One thing I like to make sure I have got in the garden is plenty of terracotta pots. I think that terracotta has a place in every garden. It may be a little bit more expensive than plastic, but it certainly looks the business.

The problem of having a good, hot summer with terracotta is it dries out very quickly. A way of avoiding the drying out of the compost is to line it first, the pot, with a plastic bag. Make sure there are holes in the bottom for drainage and then put the pot in and fill it with compost. You can hide the rim of the bag inside the pot, and then you would not even see it. But I tell you what, your plants will have a lot more moisture this year.

Apart from keeping our pots watered, we all want great flowers—brilliant, beautiful displays, especially on patio pots. We might give them a feed at the start of the year, we might forget. But a way of not forgetting is to use these—these are slow-release pellets, and they could come in little bundles. I know it looks like birdseed but actually, each of these little pellets will slowly break down and release the food over a period of about six to nine months.

The problem is getting them into the pot in the first place. And if you forget to do it when you are planting the plant, then you have to use your finger. Put your finger in. What happens? You get your nail full of compost.

A way to avoid it is to use an apple corer. It is about the same size hole you will get with this as if you use your finger. By poking it down into there, wiggle it around, about an inch and a half or two inches deep is plenty, and you just drop the slow-release pellets into their, tap like that, it will bring out the core, and the hole is filled in, and no dirt on your fingers.

Now, we are going to have a look at the garden around the borders now. For that, I need to put my wellies on.

Now, if you ever gone to the garden shed and you have not worn your wellies for a while, you put them on without thinking and then lurking in the foot end, you hear the telltale shuffle or maybe you feel the wiggle of a spider. So you are busy shaking the wellies off.

There is a way to avoid anything getting into your wellies that you have stored in your shed or garage, and that is to use a pair of tights.

I know it looks daft, but you will be grateful for them. Nothing can get into my wellies, and when I take them off here—you can use the tights again, of course—so now it is on with the wellies and off to the garden.