Potting On

L and I have been on a gardening mission recently, as it's one of the final parts of our renovation that needs some final refinement. As you'll see in our before and after, our garden needed a lot of work. We finally filled the gap at the back with a greenhouse, where we've been growing lots of different vegetables and flowers from seed ready to go into our allotment. (VERY excited about this.)

With this mission in mind, I've been watching Monty Don's Big Dreams Small Spaces to pick up some tips. The series is perfect as Don deals with people similar to L and I - amateurs who love gardening, but don't really know that much. This Quick Trick is courtesy of Monty Don, which we've used over and over again as we pot on our plants into bigger pots or into the ground.

Simply:
1. Dig a hole
2. Put your plant pot into it
3. Fill around the pot with soil
4. Remove the plant pot
5. Remove the plant from the pot
6. Pop the plant in the hole.

You now have the perfect sized space to pot on your plant. This way, you avoid squeezing the roots into something too small or moving soil back into a space that's too big. It's so quick, simple and does the trick. It's like making a sandcastle, but inverted-!

Pop your plant pot into a hole and fill soil around it so there are no gaps.

Pop your plant pot into a hole and fill soil around it so there are no gaps.

Remove the pot.

Remove the pot.

Your plant should slot nicely into the soil. Firm down gently.

Your plant should slot nicely into the soil. Firm down gently.

Make sure to water in your plants once potted on (try doing this early morning or after sunset otherwise the sunshine and heat will cause the water to evaporate before the plant can absorb it).

Make sure to water in your plants once potted on (try doing this early morning or after sunset otherwise the sunshine and heat will cause the water to evaporate before the plant can absorb it).

For more behind-the-scenes snaps of the Maison Bailey greenhouse & allotment, follow on Twitter here.

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