Gardening advice from RHS expert Colin Crosbie

As part of our partnership with the Royal Horticultural Society, we met up with RHS expert Colin Crosbie to get his professional gardening advice. Here's the first part of our interview with Colin...

What are your tips for growing vegetables?

Make sure you know your soil, and choose the right vegetable for that soil. If you're just starting out, try some of the less difficult crops, like potatoes, beetroot, peas, radishes and lettuce.

It's possible to grow many vegetables (e.g. tomatoes, peppers, small varieties of carrots, lettuces) in containers or grow bags. You can also get a very good crop of strawberries by growing them in a grow bag.
 
The most important thing is to have fun - don't worry if you have one or two disappointments. The flavour of the vegetables you grow will be absolutely wonderful, and you'll get your vegetables at the peak of perfection.

Do you have any pruning tips?

Make sure you have good pruning tools: secateurs, loppers and a pruning saw are a must.

First, remove any dead, damaged or diseased material. Ask yourself: why are you pruning? Is it to remove sections of the plant that are causing an obstruction? Is it to encourage flowering? Is it to keep your plant small and more compact?

Here's a simple rule of thumb for plants like Deutzia and Philadelphus: remove one third of the oldest branches immediately after flowering.

For evergreen plants, such as camellia and mahonia, prune early in the year, no later than April, as this gives the plant all summer to recover. You may lose a few flowers on a camellia this way. 

Roses should be pruned in early spring (at RHS Wisley we prune them late February to early March). Also, remember to reduce the height of the plant by one third to prevent the wind from damaging it.

It pays to get hold of a good book on pruning. I would recommend the RHS Simple Steps to Success, Easy Pruning.

Most plants grow naturally in the wild without pruning. So remember, if it doesn’t need pruning, don’t prune it.

Which gardens have you been to and thought 'wow'?

There's something of interest in every garden I've visited. However, I believe all the RHS Gardens are exceptional. 

Wisley has wonderful spring displays, glorious summer borders and a magnificent glasshouse. 

Hyde Hall has an outstanding Dry Garden and a marvellous display of scented roses. 

Rosemoor is the RHS jewel of the West Country with its beautiful summer colours.

Harlow Carr has a lovely woodland garden and a streamside walk awash with colour from the candelabra primulas. 

Members of the RHS also get the opportunity to visit 140 other partner gardens throughout the country, which have many outstanding features and plant collections. I'd recommend taking a look at all the RHS Gardens.

Find out more about RHS membership.

Colin Crosbie's backgroud: Colin is the current Superintendent of the Woody Ornamental and Alpine Plants Department at RHS Garden Wisley.

He has contributed to various gardening journals and magazines, and wrote the RHS/DK ‘Simple Guide to Pruning’. His gardening expertise has brought him numerous appearances on television and radio programmes, including ‘Gardeners’ World’.

Pick up more gardening tips and advice from Colin in the second part of our interview. 

Tune in to see Colin in our RHS shows at 6pm on the 10th, 17th and 24th June.