Easy crops to grow for beginners

Being a beginner gardener is exciting and refreshing, and there will always be something for you to do and learn about your garden. But where do you start? Which soil do you use? How to prune? When to Sow? How do you grow plants? The questions are endless! We have collated 10 easy crops to grow for beginners.  From plants to fruit and veg these will help to get you on your way and ease you into gardening.

Strawberries

Everybody loves the fresh, juicy flavour of sun warmed strawberries picked straight from the garden. So versatile that they can be grown in containers, hanging baskets, Flower Pouches® and window boxes, or planted straight into the ground. Grow our ‘Extend the Season’ pack to ensure a plentiful supply of juicy, sweet strawberries throughout June and July.

Sunflowers

Easy plants for kids to grow – they will definitely be impressed with Sunflower ‘Mongolian Giant’ growing up to 14 feet tall! Just sow the seeds straight into the ground in a sunny, sheltered spot and watch them grow and grow and grow! Be sure to provide the stems with supports to grow the tallest sunflowers around.

Blackberries

Forage for hedgerow fruits in your own garden! Grow blackberries in that rough corner behind the shed, or let them scramble over an old unsightly fence – growing your own fruit couldn’t be simpler. These delicious fruits will grow almost anywhere and don’t need much attention. Train the stems onto wires to make them easier to harvest – if you are not keen on being prickled, try a thornless variety like Apache.

Sweet Peas

Who can resist their delicious fragrance? And the more you pick, the more flowers they produce! The large seeds of sweet peas are easy to handle, but if sowing sounds complicated then buy them as sweet pea plug plants! A sunny spot, a supportive fence, and plenty of water is all these climbers need to produce your own ‘home grown’ cut flowers. Just keep an eye out for troublesome slugs and snails – they love the young shoots.

Apples

A well established apple tree is a real asset, and there is an apple to suit every size of garden. Choose your apple carefully to suit your tastes and the size of your garden. If space allows then choose two varieties that will pollinate one another. In smaller gardens try growing fruit trees in tubs. A dwarf Family Apple has 3 different varieties on the same tree – just perfect for a container on the patio. Or if you fancy something really different then a step-over apple tree will create a real talking point!

Pansy

With their cheery faces, it’s hard to resist the appeal of pansies. These garden favourites are easy plants to grow from seed but even easier from pansy plug plants. Whether you grow them for winter or summer colour, remember to deadhead the faded flowers to encourage more and more.

Currants

Redcurrants, blackcurrants and whitecurrants are perfect soft fruits for decorating desserts, makings jams and jellies, or adding to sauces. They freeze well too so you can savour the taste of summer during the winter months. If you are tight for space try our Redcurrant ‘Rovada’ which can be trained as a cordon so it is a perfect soft fruit for growing in containers.

Fuchsias

Easy to grow patio plants when grown from plugs, and best loved for adding colour to hanging baskets and containers. Fuchsias come in all colours and shapes, from trailing to upright you could even try the climbing fuchsia ‘Lady Boothby’ for an ambitious display. For a really professional look, pinch out the tips of each stem while the plants are still young to encourage lots of bushy growth.

Raspberries

Autumn fruiting raspberries are self supporting so you can plant them in containers or in clumps throughout your garden. This undemanding crop can be harvested from late summer to early autumn for a delicious dessert. Autumn fruiting raspberries are simple to maintain – just shear the canes to ground level each February and look forward to another juicy crop!

Learn more about growing currants using our helpful hub page.