Alan Titchmarsh - Greenhouse Gardening

Contents

The greenhouse is one of the most useful tools a gardener can have. It is a place to propagate seedlings, nurture young plants, experiment with exotic planting and hide from the rain. This book provides all the information and advice you will need to decide which greenhouse is right for you, set it up and get your planting going, and all under the watchful eye of the nations favourite gardener.

Includes:
* guidance on selecting, installing and maintaining a greenhouse
* recommended vegetables, fruit, herbs and ornamental plants for growing under cover
* practical advice on general care, harvesting, storage, propagation and pest control
* seasonal management guide
* step-by-step illustrations showing essential techniques

Alan Titchmarsh imparts a lifetime of expertise in these definitive guides for beginners and experienced gardeners. Step-by-step illustrations and easy-to-follow instructions guide you through the basic gardening skills and on to the advanced techniques, providing everything you need to get the most from your greenhouse.

Originally trained at Hertfordshire College of Horticulture and Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Alan Titchmarsh is the author of over 40 books about gardening, including How to be a Gardener Book 1: Back to Basics, the fastest-selling of all time in the genre, and the bestselling The Kitchen Gardener: How to Grow Your Own Fruit and Veg. He writes for BBC Gardeners World Magazine, and is gardening correspondent for the Daily Express and Sunday Express. He has presented Gardeners World, the annual coverage of The Chelsea Flower Show and Nature of Britain, and has his own daily chatshow and presents his own show on Radio 2.

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Version 1.0

Epub ISBN 9781448142224

www.randomhouse.co.uk

Published in 2010 by BBC Books, an imprint of Ebury Publishing, a Random House Group Company

Copyright Alan Titchmarsh 2010

The right of Alan Titchmarsh to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with Sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner.

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A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978 1 84 6074042

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Gardening is one of the best and most fulfilling activities on earth, but it can sometimes seem complicated and confusing. The answers to problems can usually be found in books, but big fat gardening books can be rather daunting. Where do you start? How can you find just the information you want without wading through lots of stuff that is not appropriate to your particular problem? Well, a good index is helpful, but sometimes a smaller book devoted to one particular subject fits the bill better especially if it is reasonably priced and if you have a small garden where you might not be able to fit in everything suggested in a larger volume.

The How to Garden books aim to fill that gap even if sometimes it may be only a small one. They are clearly set out and written, I hope, in a straightforward, easy-to-understand style. I dont see any point in making gardening complicated, when much of it is based on common sense and observation. (All the key techniques are explained and illustrated, and Ive included plenty of tips and tricks of the trade.)

There are suggestions on the best plants and the best varieties to grow in particular situations and for a particular effect. Ive tried to keep the information crisp and to the point so that you can find what you need quickly and easily and then put your new-found knowledge into practice. Dont worry if youre not familiar with the Latin names of plants. They are there to make sure you can find the plant as it will be labelled in the nursery or garden centre, but where appropriate I have included common names, too. Forgetting a plants name need not stand in your way when it comes to being able to grow it.

Above all, the How to Garden books are designed to fill you with passion and enthusiasm for your garden and all that its creation and care entails, from designing and planting it to maintaining it and enjoying it. For more than fifty years gardening has been my passion, and that initial enthusiasm for watching plants grow, for trying something new and for just being outside pottering has never faded. If anything I am keener on gardening now than I ever was and get more satisfaction from my plants every day. Its not that I am simply a romantic, but rather that I have learned to look for the good in gardens and in plants, and there is lots to be found. Oh, there are times when I fail when my plants dont grow as well as they should and I need to try harder. But where would I rather be on a sunny day? Nowhere!

The How to Garden handbooks will, I hope, allow some of that enthusiasm childish though it may be to rub off on you, and the information they contain will, I hope, make you a better gardener, as well as opening your eyes to the magic of plants and flowers.

A proper greenhouse is often seen as the mark of a serious gardener, but if you dont consider yourself such, dont be put off gardening under glass is really no different from gardening outdoors, except youve got more control over the climate. Greenhouses have many benefits how you use yours will depend on the type of plants youd like to grow.