There really can be no excuse not to try growing your own tomatoes, it’s so simple and just a couple of plants will reward you with plenty of sweet-tasting tomatoes throughout the summer.

There are many types to try from the tiniest cherry that are favourites with children (and me….Sungold being my particular favourite) through to full-flavoured giant beefsteak tomatoes. Tomatoes generally come in two different types: cordon (or indeterminate) which grow tall and can reach up to 2m and so require staking and the bush type (or determinate) tomatoes which are bushy, and don’t require staking.

If space is at a premium there are even tomato plants designed to grow in hanging baskets.

The grow bag is the best thing to plant your tomatoes plants in but I don’t use mine in the traditional way as I find that three tomatoes to one grow bag gets a bit crowded so instead I use one grow bag for two tomato plants, if you want to give this way a try:

1) Shake up grow bag

2) Roughly make an indentation across the middle of the bag and fold the bag in half

3) Cut along the indentation to make 2 halves

4) You now have two ready make tomato pots which have more compost for your greedy plants

5) Plant one tomato per half of the bag, water in well

6) Position in an area that gets lots of sun or a greenhouse ideally.

7) Stake as the tomato grows and tie the main stem to a vertical bamboo cane or wind it up a well-anchored sturdy string.

8) Remove the side-shoots regularly when they are about 2.5cm long. Bush or hanging varieties do not need to have side-shoots removed.

9) Water regularly to keep soil moist, if you allow the compost to dry out and then flood it the change in water content will cause the fruit to crack. Irregular watering, together with lack of calcium in the soil leads to blossom end rot – the bottom of the fruit turns black and becomes sunken.

10) Feed every 10-14 days with a liquid fertiliser once the first fruits start to set.

11) Remove yellowing leaves below developing fruit trusses.

12) Once the plants reach the top of the greenhouse, remove the growing point of the main stem.

Hiding a multitude of sins

The spring flowering Clematis Montana is perfect for covering large supports such as pergolas, walls or not so pretty fences. This clematis sits in one of three broad groups this first group, the spring clematis produces flowers on previous seasons ripened growth so should be pruned – if at all – immediately after they have finished blooming. The second group produces their first flush of large flowers on the previous year’s growth and often a second showing of smaller flowers in late summer, prune lightly in early spring. The final group, late flowering clematis will not flower before mid-June and continue to do well into autumn. These are the clematis of high summer, warm evenings (fingers crossed) andrich autumnal light, flowers are made on new growth so need to be pruned hard - generally removing a great tangled mass of material – right to the lowest couple of buds in Spring.

Do you have a gardening question?

If so Lucy is there to help. From lawns to lillies, trees to turnips if you need some advice contact Lucy by emailing gardening@thekmgroup.co.uk. We’d also love to post pictures of your garden online as well as telling all of the county about your gardening news.