• About Alison
  • Wellbeing
Gardening by Design
  • 01892 511719/ 07803 045327

    alison.marsden@gardeningbydesign.co.uk

  • Home
  • About
  • Advice
  • Wellbeing
  • Online
  • Events
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Learn
Gardening by Design
  • Home
  • About
  • Advice
  • Wellbeing
  • Online
  • Events
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Learn

GARDENING BLOG

Grab a cup of tea and settle down for a good gardening read

Seed sowing Success

Alison Marsden2020-03-06T15:22:17+00:00

With Spring in sight many gardeners’ thoughts turn to sowing seeds for this summer’s annual flower and vegetable crops and very little beats the excitement of seeing those tiny green shoots emerge.  Here are my tips for success:

I recommend that you make a list of what you need and have space for before shopping for seeds whether online or at the garden centre.  It easy to get carried away with so many choices on offer.

Pea seedling photoConsider how many plants you want: a packet of 500 seeds may be cheaper per seed than 250 but modern germination rates are very high and do you want that many plants?

Varieties labelled F1 are hybrids that are cross pollinated in a controlled process making the seeds much more expensive.  You may get 10 seeds in a packet instead of the usual 500 for a field pollinated variety. Worth it if you want the specific characteristics of the plant, but not if you just want the ‘common or garden’ version.

Sow tiny seeds much more shallowly then large seeds: as a guide plant at a depth equal to the size of the seed.  Tiny seeds do not have much food stored inside to support growth until the shoot emerges into the light to photosynthesise.

Resist the temptation to plant half-hardy seeds too early even if you have a greenhouse.  They will be tall and spindly before you can plant them outside after the last frost.  Of course what constitutes ‘too early’ is totally dependent on where your garden is but even down here in Kent there is risk of a frost into late April and snow in April is also not unknown.

I also ask you to use Peat-free compost as you start to sow seeds and pot on plants this year.  For 70 years gardeners in the UK have been presented with packaged compost to use in their gardens and hanging baskets that contains peat.  Now growing awareness of the importance of conserving our natural environment and wildlife and greater sustainability means that we understand the problems of continuing to destroy peat bogs.

  • Peat landscapes are hugely important for the plants and wildlife that depend on them..
  • Peat bogs store vast amounts of carbon, more than the equivalent area of trees.
  • Peat bogs act like a sponge, soaking up rainwater to help reduce flood risk
  • Peat is laid down at only 1-2mm a year so is not replaced as quickly as it is currently extracted.

Investment over the last 10 years in reliable alternatives to peat means that increasing numbers of commercial growers and organisations like The National Trust and The RHS have gone peat-free.   But amateur gardeners still use 2.25 million cubic metres of peat a year, and a large part of the reason is that there has been little publicity about peat-free compost in the national media and so not everyone is aware of the issue and the solutions.  Additionally product packaging still hides the real situation in many cases: any compost not labelled explicitly ‘peat-free’ will contain peat, usually from 40-70%.

There are many alternatives to peat but we have to create a demand in nurseries, garden centres & DIY stores by insisting on peat-free compost.

Happy seed-sowing from Alison

Receive my newsletter to get monthly blog posts, video tips & articles to help you become a more confident gardener.  Sign up here

Share this post

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email

Latest Posts

  • A Gardening New Year
  • Supporting Wildlife in a small Garden
  • Garden conifers – not just for Christmas

Categories

  • Garden design (60)
  • Gardening for Wellbeing (26)
  • Grow Your Own (21)
  • In The Media (6)
  • Practical gardening (61)
  • Wildlife gardening (15)

STH training

Follow On Twitter

Tweets by @GardenInKent

Dementia Friend

Dementia Friend logo

Watch Online

RHS Listed Speaker

RHS logo

Support Wildlife

KWT logo

GMG Member

Garden media Guild logo

Newsletter

Receive Seven steps to less effort gardening free to your in box when you join my monthly newsletter

SIGN UP
© Copyright 2020. Alison Marsden at Gardening by Design. All Rights Reserved.
All Terms & Policy Information

Web Design and SEO by Hogtronix for Cornwall
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.OKAll Policy Information >