1 week Ago By [email protected] (Danny Gutmann)
Garden enthusiasts across the UK are being encouraged to employ an unconventional tool in their planting routine this month: a pencil. In his latest gardening tips shared with green-fingered followers, former Gardeners' World host Alan Titchmarsh demonstrated on his YouTube channel the benefits of using a pencil for planting sweet peas. He detailed the process, saying: "Space three of them out on the surface of the compost equidistantly, three of them will go in there and then poke them in with a pencil about a centimetre deep and just flick the compost back over them.
" Having sown his seeds earlier in the month, Alan revisited the seedlings recently to observe their growth and guide viewers through the subsequent steps. He expressed his delight at the germination process: "This is such a wonderful moment however long you've been gardening, you grow a few seeds, dry as dust and you think what can they possibly do, and then you end up with young plants." When the seedlings reach the stage where they begin to break through the compost's surface, it's time for "pricking them out" according to Alan.
He then proceeded to describe how to handle the seedlings during this critical phase before they are eventually planted outdoors in the summer. For the next part of their journey, Alan used a wooden seed tray, explaining: "This is where we do the operation that we call pricking out." He demonstrated that to achieve optimal results, gardeners should utilise a pricking motion to create an indentation in the compost before planting the roots.
After the young plants have spent around a month in wooden seed trays, it will be time for them to transition either to larger pots or their designated spots in the garden where they can complete their life cycle. In addition to his gardening tips on his YouTube channel, Alan has been spotted offering advice to fellow gardening enthusiasts on Waitrose's channel. There, he shared his insights on how to fend off unwanted weeds from our gardens.
He explained how using a simple garden hoe can effectively deal with annual weeds: "A little hoe like this skimmed across the surface will chop up annual weeds, separate the roots from the shoots and they'll fry in the sun." Alan has made his mark over the years with various appearances on TV and radio programmes, most notably as a presenter on Gardeners' World from 1996 to 2002..
