Growing vegetables in a heatwave is certainly a challenge. On extremely hot days, young plants are often sweating out more moisture than they can draw up through their newly planted roots. How can we help them get established?

It’s been a tough year. It feels a little like our gardens form a metaphor this year for the world outside, for the political upheaval, for the stories of flash floods and forest fires. Outside of the human world and the wider environment, in the microcosm of the garden, communities of plants are also in turmoil. Some are thriving despite another hot and dry summer season. Others, just like many human communities right now, or like many of us as individuals, are facing their

One of the first things people are talking to me about out in the garden this year is what funny weather we’ve been having. Closely followed by ‘the slugs are wreaking havoc for me, how about you?!’ While heat waves have been raging elsewhere around the World, here in the UK, the summer has been unusually cold and wet. Seedlings have been slow to get started, plants have been stunted and slugs have indeed been leaving a trail of destruction in gardens everywhere. Well thought

A decade ago, the thought that we could regularly have summers with temperatures in the 30s would have seemed ridiculous, but here we are and despite best efforts, so many plants are seriously struggling to cope. As a gardener, it's time for some difficult decisions - how far can we go in helping these plants limp through difficult conditions? At some point, we have to take a deep breath and remove some of our more sensitive plants. What can we grow instead that will stand up

We’ve just had a really dry April, with England and Wales reportedly getting only around 50% of the usual rainfall for this time of the year. And actually, I’m starting to see slightly crispy looking lawns when out and about; it seems very early for that sort of thing! So I’m taking steps in the vegetable garden to be sure my veg are set up as well as possible for a potentially dry and difficult growing season. If you’re growing veg this year and have some good tips to share,