Spring

  Chives (Allium spp.) feature in the top five of most chefs’ culinary list of herbs to use in the kitchen. They are also popular with gardeners because they are attractive and an easy plant to fit into small spots just about anywhere in the garden.     How to buy Chives can be grown from seed or purchased as …

 Author Chelsea Van Rijn A truly beautiful and harmonious garden should stimulate all of our senses… I love the varied and delicious smells of the garden; sweetly scented flowers, strong, spicy foliage — even stinky fertiliser has its place! New-release plants will wow us with ‘structural’ or ‘colourful’ impact, but we usually need to look to the ‘old favourites’ for …

With so many amazing plants in garden centres today, it can be easy to forget some of the most obvious choices. Geraniums flower beautifully, keep a lush appearance in some of the hottest, driest conditions, are elegant in pots and can be the mainstay of low-maintenance gardens. With the recent geranium revival, it’s time to give the humble geranium a …

There is nothing tastier than vine ripened tomatoes from the home garden. Planting Tomatoes need a sunny site and good drainage. Ensure seedlings are well anchored by planting them slightly deeper than the surrounding soil — tomato plants can become top-heavy and blow over. The taller varieties may need staking and it is best to do this at planting time …

When & where to plant Choose the sunniest part of your vegetable patch in spring or summer to plant capsicums. They require heat to enable their fruit to ripen. Make sure the soil is deep enough to anchor its extensive root system. Do not plant them where other members of the Solanaceae family (eggplants, potatoes, tomatoes) have previously grown.   …

South-East Asian cuisine encompasses the refreshing and often pungent fragrances and flavours of Burma, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia and Thailand cooking. Dishes are mostly an amalgamation of four contrasting flavours of hot, sour, sweet and salty and herbs play an important role in this fusion. Here are some commonly used herbs of South-East Asia.   Coriander (annual) Coriander is used …