Gardening expert Monty Don has named rocket as the easiest plant to grow, and it could help cut your food bill. As a cut-and-come-again crop, it keeps providing fresh salad for free.
Rocket: The Easiest Plant to Grow
With summer officially here, regardless of the weather, it is the perfect time to enjoy delicious, nutritious salads. Instead of spending nearly £2 on a bag of rocket at the supermarket, Monty Don says you can grow your own for free.
Monty, returning to Gardeners' World at 8pm tonight, describes rocket as "probably the easiest of all plants to grow." Because it is fast-growing and a cut-and-come-again crop, you can harvest it repeatedly.
How to Grow Rocket from Seed
Growing rocket from seed is straightforward. Monty explains: "If you sow them direct you can leave them where they are. If you sow them in a seed tray you can prick them out and then plant them out about four or five weeks later at whatever spacing you want."
Most salad crops are equally easy to cultivate. Monty adds: "If you want something to eat from your garden, that is certainly one of the easiest things you can do, and from that any kind of salad or lettuce grows very easily from seed."
Rocket thrives in cooler temperatures, making spring and autumn the ideal seasons for cultivation.
Taking Cuttings: An Insurance Policy
Growing salad from seed is simple, but raising plants from cuttings is not as tricky as many assume. Monty notes: "Cuttings are sometimes seen as something that can be a little bit tricky, but by and large they're not."
If you have a cherished plant, taking a cutting can serve as an "insurance policy" against mishaps. Monty says: "Just the other day I took a batch of salvia cuttings, and they are a really good idea to take because they root easily and they're an insurance. You keep the cuttings protected over winter and it means that if you lose the parent plant, you've got healthy young plants to replace them the next year."
Aeoniums: Easy to Propagate
Aeoniums are among the simplest plants to propagate from cuttings. Monty advises: "Simply cut a straight piece of stem with a rosette on the top of it, and then put it to one side and leave it for a week or so to callus over. Then put that into some perlite or even some pure sand, water it, and it will almost inevitably produce roots and a healthy young plant."
Aeoniums can reach heights of around 1.5 metres, with deep red-purple foliage and delicate yellow flowers in late spring. They are just one example of plants that can help you create a flourishing garden without spending money.
Division: Another Free Method
"Another way of producing plants is by division," says Monty. "The two that I would recommend are, first, hardy geraniums." Their roots are fibrous, so they can be pulled apart. Monty explains: "You can take a large plant and divide it into as many as half a dozen or even 10 baby plants that you grow on, and that will give you really good coverage in a year or so."
The hosta is another plant simple to propagate. With hostas, Monty advises cutting rather than pulling. A sharp spade or bread knife will do. "Cut them into quarters or even slice them like a cake, plant them out and you'll have lots of new hosta plants."
