Helen: Barbara, when I see the huge amount of garden stuff that’s available in garden centres I am a bit overwhelmed. How do you know what to buy and how much?

Barbara: Well Helen, it depends on what you want to do. Let’s consider three different purposes: pots, flower beds and vegetables. In each case, have a plan before you leave.

A great way to fill a pot well is to make a full size template of the top of the pot and take it with you to the garden centre. As you choose your plants, simply place them on the template to represent their placement in the pot.

Want lots of flowers blooming all summer? Then choose annuals. What are the shade conditions where you’ll put the pot? Read the tags and choose appropriate varieties.

Fill up the whole space, and in fact overplant. That makes for a full, lush and fabulous display in your pot.

We’ll do a video on planting a pot so that you can see how I use the pot and the soilless mix.

Now let’s think about an existing bed that has lots of evergreen, but you want some colour. First, measure the area you’ll be planting with flowers, and again consider the shade conditions. White flowers stand out well in the low light hours, but do choose colours you like.

Here’s a tip: on the back of the plant tag, write how many plants you put in. Mid-summer decide if the garden is looking too sparce, overplanted or just right, and based on what you see, increase or decrease the number on the back of the tag so when you plant next year, you’ll know how many plants you’ll need.

If you are planting vegetables, my first tip may sound obvious, but you’d be surprised how many gardeners ignore it: plant veggies you like to eat! If you hate cucumber — don’t plant it!

For planting in pots in June, good choices are tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, zucchini (or courgettes if you are in Europe), eggplant. Herbs are also good.

Some veggies should be planted from seed. These include carrots, radishes, beans.

Peas and lettuce like cold weather, so it’s really too late to plant them now that we’re well into June. The best time to plant is as soon as you can work the soil, so plan now for next year.

By the way, you can often pick up great plants at good prices in the grocery store. The key is to have your plan in your mind before you buy, and stick with it.

Helen: Thanks Barbara. That helps a lot.