How to sow zinnia seeds outdoors

Dwarf French beans are long-cropping, compact plants, ideal for a container. They taste good fresh, or if left longer to mature, beans can be shelled and dried for the store cupboard. Find out how to grow runner beans. Here’s how to sow dwarf French beans in three easy steps. You Will Need

Sowing a green manure on bare soil in autumn is a great way to improve its structure and fertility. It prevents nutrients from being washed out of bare soil, deters weeds from germinating and improves soil structure. Sown directly, the resulting young leafy plants are later dug back into the soil in spring, giving it a boost. In this clip from Gardeners’ World, Monty Don demonstrates how to sow grazing rye grass as a green manure, and explains how to use it to incorporate back into the soil:

Dahlias are hugely popular with good reason. They’re easy to grow and flower reliably over a long season – often right up to the first frosts – and they’re invaluable in late-summer planting schemes. Dahlia Mignon Mixed is a low-growing variety that bears bold, yellow-centred blooms in a range of dazzling colours. It works particularly well in pots and containers and provides a generous supply of pollen for bumblebees. Put it to the test by sowing the free Mignon Mixed seeds that come with your

Few plants can match the ‘wow’ factor that sunflowers bring to beds, borders and allotments. Their giant, cheery ray flowers brighten even the cloudiest of days and they’re a big hit with pollinators, too. Then, later in the season, the seeds are a rich source of food for hungry birds. Your March subscriber edition comes with a free double-pack of seeds of a wildflower Pollinator Mix and a sunflower Sunburst Mix from Mr Fothergill’s. The Sunburst Mix will produce a glorious mix of flowers in vib