Hotbed hints

The best way to get plants in the garden to mature earlier and more abundantly is to use a hotbed, a reporter has asserted.

Aldo P Biagotti makes his comments in online resource Mother Earth News, explaining that the heated miniature greenhouses allow horticulturalists to nurse seeds and grow younger plants many months before the chill leaves the soil.

"Growing seedlings in the hotbed can be a real money-saver, allowing you to skip the expense of starter plants from a nursery. It also gives you flexibility; you can wait until the conditions are just right in your garden before transplanting," he adds.

Concluding, Mr Biagotti states that gardeners should begin preparing a hotbed in March, by cleaning out the bottom of it to accommodate the manure used to heat it.

Meanwhile, online resource Doctor Greenfingers suggests that slugs and snails will begin to enter the garden as temperatures rise in spring and as such horticulturalists should keep an eye out for them.