Summer cordials are all the rage for pepping up your G&T or assuaging a summer thirst. Experiment with this basic herb cordial recipe and make it yours.
Herbs
Summer GYO advice
Martyn Cox shares his advice for peak summer Grow Your Own success to keep your plot productive.
Does all basil taste the same?
Vicki Cooke explores the virtues of The king of herbs – basil and offers some expert advice regarding taste and flavour
Grow your own tea garden
Herbal teas are a fantastic way to enjoy home-grown herbs, Debi Holland offers some sage advice on how to grow your own tea garden.
Great windowsill herbs
If you are starting out in gardening, or just want to extend your growing range to the windowsill or window box, herbs are a great place to start says Jean Vernon.
Keep your veg garden productive
With a little care and attention you can keep all your herbs, fruit and vegetables at the peak of perfection, Martyn Cox offers some timely advice
Are there any houseplants you can use?
Houseplants have a range of benefits and here are five houseplants that offer more than just looks and aesthetics.
Grow attractive edibles
In his Grow-Your-Own feature Martyn Cox recommends plants that look good and taste great.
Winter edibles to grow and pick now
As the garden starts to slow, there are still plenty of edibles to pick, store and grow for winter, says Martyn Cox.
What’s a really easy annual to grow this summer?
Grow nasturtiums – these easy garden flowers create an amazing splash of colour all summer long
Winter herbs
Harvesting herbs fresh from your own garden is easy, fabulous and provides unlimited flavour potential. Even over winter you can grow herbs outdoors.
How to grow supermarket basil
How to make the most of supermarket basil. You can make your pot of supermarket basil last much longer by potting it into a larger pot. It’s one gardening job that is easy and will save you money!
What is companion planting?
Some plants offer additional benefits when grown in close proximity with others. Jean Vernon explores
How to harvest, ripen and increase your garden bounty
How to harvest, ripen and increase your garden bounty, Martyn Cox helps you make the most of your garden edibles with some timely GYO advice.
Edible herb flowers
Herb flowers are not just pretty faces: they are also useful in so many ways in the kitchen according to Barbara Segall.
Grow Your Own
Summer advice to get the best from your home-grown fruit, vegetables and herbs
Keeping your fruit & veg healthy and productive
Martyn Cox helps you harvest some fruit and vegetable treasure and offers advice to keep your plants productive
Getting started with fruit and veg
Martyn Cox offers some timely advice on growing fruit and vegetables in your summer garden.
How to Grow Your Own Food
Martyn Cox helps you start growing your own fruit, herbs and vegetables in your own garden, with lots of timely tips and advice
Get festive with herbs
Herbs are not just great for cooking. Use your herbs creatively this Christmas to add their essence, presence and power to the festivities.
Five plants to rub and sniff
Gardening is not just all about colour. Add interesting leaves and floral fragrance to bring additional richness to your surroundings and you’re on your way to something far more satisfying.
Growing mint
Mint is an essential kitchen herb: it has an unforgettable fresh, clean taste says Barbara Segall, and will remind you of peppermints, chewing gum and toothpaste.
Five ways to garden for health and wellbeing
Five ways to garden for health and wellbeing-simple ways to incorporate atmosphere and calm in a small space
Five pretty and practical herbs
Many of our garden plants, beyond those we instantly recognise as culinary herbs, have a history of usefulness as traditional medicinal plants, going back centuries.
Herb or spice?
When is a plant a herb and when does it become a spice? Some plants can even be both herbs and spice.
Rock samphire
Rock samphire was popular back in the 1700s, but lost favour. Vicki Cooke has been growing this old herb in the kitchen garden at Hampton Court Palace.
Plant long-lived herbs
Herbs are not just short-lived plants for summer. Many will survive year after year in the garden. Choose from lovage, rosemary, sage, thyme and chives.
Lemon-scented herbs
You don’t have to grow lemons to get a fresh citrus flavour. Barbara Segall grows some varieties of lemon-scented herbs that have a sharp lemon kick.
Power to the herbs
Herbs are the powerhouse plants of the garden, says Barbara Segall. They deliver ‘va va voom’ to our food, enhancing all the fruit and veg we grow.
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