1. Wire Hanging Basket, £9.95

A small, stylish container for balconies or gardens this hanging basket can be hooked over railings and fences or mounted on vertical surfaces. Plant up with a neat, flowering geranium so you can see the pretty wirework or fill with tumbling flowers, tomatoes or strawberries. A versatile basket for any garden.

2. Aged Zinc Windowbox, from £16.95

A classic zinc windowbox is essential for balcony gardens. As a decorative accessory or a much-needed planter for vegetable and herb gardening it is deep enough to provide a sturdy foundation for any plants. Available in a range of sizes, from 40cm – 80cm it can be attached to a curved railing, balcony or wall using brackets. An ideal gift for the green-fingered city dweller.

3. Matchstick Garden, £2.50

Small space gardening is made fun by little products like the Matchstick Garden, which grows an entire mini-garden from a matchbook. All you need is a couple of planters and some water to grow a whole pot of herbs, flowers, salad or Italian veg. The Matchstick Garden is perfect for a friend who has grown disheartened by their lack of space and/or ability. Anybody can grow one!

4. Shaker Heart Votive, £15.95 available in zinc or rust

A balcony or patio garden might be overwhelmed by other lighting solutions – fairy lights could seem gaudy and there’s little space for border posts or stakes. The shaker heart votive is an attractive source of ambient candlelight that would be lost in a larger garden. And it can be hung from a beam, railing, fence or any other surface to suit your needs. This is a thoughtful gift for somebody special.

5. Strawberry and Herb Planters, £15.95

Practical and purposeful planters for gardeners without allotments and raised beds for their fruit and vegetables. With ample room for bushy strawberries and individual pockets for herbs such as basil and thyme these planters are the ultimate space-saving solution to gardening and would make any foodie gardener happy indeed. They come as a set of 2, and are also available for potatoes, vegetables and tomatoes.

6. Cardboard Bird House, £4.95

There’s no excuse for not feeding and caring for the birds, no matter what size your garden is. This cardboard bird house is an ideal size for even the smallest space, and can be discreetly mounted on any wall or flat surface. An innovative design, made out of water resistant cardboard, it will make a perfect home for small garden birds.

“WITH summer just a sniff away, all thoughts turn to Al Fresco dining and enjoying outdoor living.

But does your garden look more like a jungle than a wildlife sanctuary? Would you struggle to know one end of a spade from the other? There’s no need to panic, says garden designer and writer Alice Bowe.

Alice, who runs online store Garden Boutique from Birmingham’s Custard Factory, in Gibb Street, Digbeth, says instead of being daunted, novice gardeners should head straight outside and get digging.”

Read the rest of Make a Garden Glow.

If you’re not making compost by now you’re missing out on one of the easiest, most rewarding methods of recycling around. Now is the perfect time to get involved, with Compost Awareness Week running from 2-8 May and a plethora of web-based resources at your fingertips.

Why compost?
Composting might seem a bit unnecessary considering that you can buy bags of it ready-made at any garden centre, but the environmental benefits of making compost out of your kitchen waste are vast. In a landfill air circulation is hampered and methane gas is released during decomposition which is harmful to the environment. In an above-ground compost pile or bin oxygen allows the compost to break down releasing hardly any methane which is much more environmentally friendly. The organic matter produced will be a great plant food rich in nutrients and act as a water-retentive layer and a protective mulch. It will also be peat-free, which is another environmental benefit.

The Can O Worms is an ideal size for getting started.

Give It a Grow
The theme of this year’s Compost Awareness Week is ‘Give it a Grow’ – extend your recycling and composting into new activities such as growing your own fruit and vegetables or starting a wormery. You could also think about trying out new things in your composter – scrunched up paper, vacuum cleaner contents and shreaded leaves and green waste are all suitable for composting and will reduce your contribution to landfills even further.

A cute kitchen compost bin means you won’t forget to sort kitchen waste every day.

Top Tips for Composting
1. Start off small – not only in terms of the volume of your compost bin but also the contents. Shred leaves and paper, break up food waste and crumble egg shells. This will make decomposition quicker.
2. Water, water, water – compost needs water to speed up the process, so water little and often for the best results
3. Toss and Turn – dig in with a fork or trowel to turn the compost and break it up. If you don’t have a lot of strength go for a small compost bin or two bins you can split the compost between.

Books available from Garden Organic

Resources
For more information, advice and tips try:
1. Home composting at Recycle Now
2. Garden Organic composting pages
3. BBC compost gardening guide
4. Your local government website

Alternatively you might partake in the RHS Great London Garden Trail on 3 May. It’s a rare opportunity to look into 10 gardens usually closed to the public, including the Great Ormand Street Hospital roof gardens and John Brookes’ gothic cottage garden, which is every plantsman’s dream (above right). The event is open to all, and absolutely free.

And if you haven’t been yet this year you could always check out Kensington Roof Gardens, the spectacular theme gardens above Kensington High Street (banner pic). They recently launched a gardener’s club which is perfect for green fingered city dwellers.