Gardening tips for beginners
Inspired by @HiFabs and @frostatwork I thought I'd share tips for new gardeners lockdown has produced. Anyone can garden, it's really beneficial for your health, no need for expensive equipment and it might also help with that recycling pile. 1/11

Loo Rolls -Save those cardboard inners. Cut 2 cm and fold the bottoms over to make a pot. Great for growing peas, beans and sweetcorn that have long roots. Once your seeds have grown and you have a 3-5 cm plant, plant the whole tube in a bigger pot or in the ground. 2/11

Yogurt pots make great plant pots for lettuces, herbs, rocket and sunflowers, on your window sill. Pop a few holes in the bottom for drainage. Grow your seeds in these till your plants are big enough to move to a big pot or out in the garden.
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Plastic, veg or meat trays are ideal to stand smaller pots or loo rolls in and water without making a mess. You can also plant into these. 4/11

Cut the end of a plastic bottle and you have a mini greenhouse to pop over your little plants. Push down into the soil around your plant. Keeps them warm, keeps bugs and slugs off and I also use them to stops cats from digging in pots. 5/11

Tools
Even now I've been gardening for years and have proper tools I still use an old kitchen knife for weeding, breaking up soil and making little trenches to plant seeds in.6/11

You will need seeds. I recommend lettuce, peas, beans, sunflowers and herbs to start with, or whatever else you can get your hands on. I get most of my seeds from eBay or supermarkets or swap with other growers. Ask your neighbours. Gardening is all about swapping. 7/11

As your plants grow they will need more room, either in a bigger container or on the garden. This can be anything - buckets, milk cartons, old kitchen dishes, foil trays, crates with sacking or a bin bag in. A bag for life. Just pop some drainage holes in. 8/11

No compost?
Dig some soil from your garden, Put in your pot and pick out stones, weeds or rubbish. Crumble it up by hand. If you have some compost mix with the soil to go further. If you use just soil, plant your seeds in rows, then if any weeds come up you know which is which.

Label your seeds, especially if you've got several different sorts. You can use a plastic milk carton cut into strips, lolly sticks, write on your yogurt pots. Use a sharpie or a pencil. 10/11

ENJOY IT. If nothing grows it doesn't matter, you haven't lost anything and you had a nice time. It's relaxing, you get fresh air and learn something new. Share with other gardeners. Don't despair when there's death by slug, it makes it more satisfying when you get success.