Wormalds guidance on sweetcorn

Sunday Times garden expert Neil Wormald has been distributing some pearls of wisdom over what to do in the yard and greenhouse this week.

He asserted now is a good time to plant sweetcorn – especially heavy-cropping varieties such as Swift.

Seeds should be sown individually in three inch pots around half-an-inch into moist sowing compost.

When germination has taken place on a warm windowsill, the seedlings should be transplanted in late may to a sheltered, sunny spot in the garden.

"Always plant the sweetcorn in a rectangular block, spacing the plants 15 to 18 inches apart, rather than in a single row," Wormald advises.

This will make sure the flowers are pollinated by the wind.

Other pieces of advice on offer from the expert this week include guidance on growing strawberries, olive trees and borage.

Vegetable growing was recently in the news after US first lady Michelle Obama broke ground on her own kitchen garden at the White House.