A soil’s texture is determined by the mineral particle sizes it contains. Sand, silt, and clay — the mineral particles in soil — are derived from rock broken down over thousands of years by climatic and environmental conditions (rain, glaciers, wind, rivers, animals, etc.).

The ratio of particle sizes affects the amount of pore space — the space between the mineral particles — and therefore the amount of air and water a soil can hold. It also affects other characteristics. The smaller the soil particles, for example, the more they bind together when wet. Thus, clay soils can be sticky and difficult to work. They drain poorly and have less pore space for air, so roots may suffer from a lack of oxygen. However, clay soils are often rich in plant nutrients. In contrast, sandy soils can drain water too quickly for healthy plant growth and tend to be low in nutrients, but they are easier to work. Adding organic material can offset many of the problems associated with either extreme.

While there’s no such thing as a perfect soil, different plants grow best in different types of soil. Most common garden plants prefer loam — soils with a balance of different-sized mineral particles (approximately 40% sand, 40% silt, and 20% clay) with ample organic matter and pore space. However, some plants grow better in sandy soils, while others are well-adapted to clay soils.

To encourage butterflies to reside in your garden, it’s best to include food sources in the form of host plants for caterpillars and nectar plants for butterflies. А butterfly’s wish listalso includes sunny open spaces, shelter from the wind, and fresh water. It’s also crucial to opt for using native plant varieties in your garden, as these will be the most beneficial to the butterflies and caterpillars in your area. 

What comes up in your no-mow patch depends very much on what you start with. If, like me, your lawn is old, rather weedy, and probably hasn’t encountered weedkillers or fertilisers for years, a bit more conscious neglect could transform it into a thriving mini-meadow.

This is because the average lawn is usually home to what many would describe as weeds. Shift your perspective slightly and, like a botanical version of the ugly duckling story, many of these so-called weeds will grow into lovely wildflowers.

Last week Monty Don tweeted that a drought in Herefordshire was always welcome simply because they never have one there. The division between the prevailing climate in the west, and that in the east, effects our regional culture and traditions. It is not a coincidence that livestock fare the best where the grass grows greenest (it is well watered in the west country) and that the dry east, known in the old days as “corn country”, is favourable for arable or fruit.

Beth Chatto’s garden was a fruit farm before she converted it into a garden. Fruit trees are deep rooted, and unlike cattle have no need of lush, green, fast-growing grass. In fact, fruit trees view grass as a competitor. That is why we clear the area immediately adjacent to the base of their trunks, or let smaller livestock scratch around among them. What fruit trees need is sun. Rearing livestock is converting grass into food; here in the east we tend to farm light and air.

Even now, nudging into my forties, I still regularly hear people say “you’re a gardener? Aren’t you too young to be doing that?” While I increasingly enjoy hearing the words; “aren’t you too young?”, the idea that “this” should only be enjoyed by an older generation both amuses and grates.

Thankfully things are starting to change, with a growing number of initiatives designed to create a greater awareness and fostering a fun connection with the natural world. Grow Wild’s Youth Takeover exhibition launching this Saturday (June 24) and running until July 9 at Summerhall in Edinburgh is a great example. It’s part of Grow Wild, the national outreach initiative of Kew Gardens that is the UK’s biggest-ever wildflower campaign. Young artists between the ages of 12 and 25 were asked to outline how they would highlight through art the plight of wild flowers and their native meadow habitats (97% of which have been lost since the 1930s), and the bees, butterflies, and other insects which rely on them for food. The resulting artwork, which covers everything from poetry and embroidery through to sculpture and steel band music makes for a vibrant wildflower homage.

It’s perfectly possible for a beginner to successfully grow a good crop of apples, pears, plums, cherries, figs, apricots, peaches, nectarines, raspberries, grapes, kiwi berries, blackberries, blueberries, currants, gooseberries, and strawberries in a small space.

Just read that list again – it’s pretty impressive. Short of bananas, citrus and avocado, I reckon most people would be happy with that as a substitute for their usual supermarket fruit aisle. We garden writers bang on about helping bees – collectively these crops produce thousands of flowers just begging to be pollinated. Will they look pretty? Of course! How many of us would gladly grow an ornamental cherry or crab apple in our garden? Then why not grow a tree that delivers not only the blossom and autumn leaf colour, but a bumper edible crop to boot? The architectural foliage of a fig, the autumn leaf colour of a grape, cherry or blueberry, the billowy blossom of an apple, peach or blackberry – it’s all there for the taking, along with a massive trugful of delicious bounty.