Growing carrots – Don’t plant your carrots in soil that has a lot of weeds. Try to turn the soil as much as possible and use weed killer to get rid of the weeds. Ideally, you should use organic weed killer if you can get your hands on some. Unfortunately, once the carrots start to grow, it becomes increasingly difficult to weed them.

Sow the seeds sparingly on top of the soil and cover with about 5mm of top soil. Mulching with straw or hay will help to keep the seeds moist, and this will also make it easier to water without disturbing the seeds. The plants need little other attention during their growth period, although the plants should be kept well watered – too little water results in coarse, woody roots.

Vegetables can also take their place in the mixed border, along with herbs, perennials and shrubs. This relaxed attitude to growing vegetables allows you to add plants for color and to fill gaps. It also has practical value as the more varied the planting, the more it helps to prevent a build-up of the pests and diseases attracted to particular plants. French marigolds, for example, and pot marigolds attract beneficial insects and deter harmful ones, so planting vegetables in a mixed border next to them will be beneficial.

Ruby chard is a coarse, spinach-like vegetable with deep purple leaves and spectacular scarlet stems and veins. It associates dramatically with herbaceous plants at the front of a border.