DRAINPIPE PLANTING

I saw on a gardening programme that plants can be started in the greenhouse using a long drainpipe/guttering then sliding then into a trench in the garden. Does this work? Cheers Ray by e-mail

It’s an old Geoff Hamilton trick, especially useful for peas... which can then be slid off into a prepared trench the same shape as the guttering, with minimal root disturbance. It sounds easy but there has been a lot of trial and error in the method. Use a pipe about two feet long and don’t put holes in it. The roots go into the holes and stop the soil being slid out. You can use the method with most plants and flowers. If you get the roots quite well developed there shouldn’t be any bother as it comes out in one piece like a grass sod.

Horticultural.