The Enfield Independent has teamed up with Capel Manor Horticulture and Environmental Centre to bring you a monthly gardening column.

It will be written by Capel Manor College's head of horticulture Tom Cole.

Tom has many top tips to help you care for your garden or window boxes.

This month the topic is hanging baskets.

Now that summer is here, we hope it's time to get those hanging baskets out and pack them with a ray of colour, that's if you haven't done so already.

Traditional wire baskets are my favourite, to enable you to plant down the sides. There are also plastic and fibre types with solid or perforated sides, looking more like shallow bowls than baskets. However, the original idea of creating a lush hanging garden remains unchanged and the material from which it is made becomes irrelevant once trailing plants have grown sufficiently to conceal it.

Moss is the traditional lining for hanging baskets, but there are now synthetic substitutes even for this.

When selecting plants this year try something new. We can all put traditional bedding plants into baskets but these are not completely hardy and so must be protected by the frosts or cold winds. Why not try Tomato `Tumbler' and or strawberries?

Also why not try a more permanent basket with a mixture of bedding for colour, and small shrubs? I used to plant all manner of shrubs to give colour all round, such as Skimmia (for winter) Choisya (Mexican Orange Blossom for summer) heathers (with careful selection your basket could give flowers for most of the year). I have even tried Clematis in a large hanging basket with fairly good success. Whatever you decide this year, once planted, water the compost thoroughly and leave to drain. If you have not done so, fix a sturdy bracket or hook that is able to support the weight of your basket. A suitable height for the basket is best judged by standing back and considering how it will look in the surroundings, also bearing in mind that it must be accessible for watering.

Lastly, dead head regularly to promote more flowers, feed flowering plants high in potash every other watering and do not let the compost dry out. With this in mind you should have a spectacular display.

As new growths on climbing roses develop, tie them in loosely to avoid wind damage. With dahlias, remove the terminal shoots on plants to encourage side growths. Remove growths from the leaf axils of the top two pairs of leaves. Tie plant stems to the supporting stakes. Spead organic mulch around growing plants.

l Shrubs needing pruning this month after they have flowered are: Buddleia alternifolia, deutzia, philadelphus and weigela.

l The Vegetable Garden: Keep up successional sowings of all salad crops.

If you haven't started yet, it is a good time to sow marrows. Sow three seeds at each station, spacing these 90cm (3ft) apart each way, and placing the seeds 5cm (2ins) deep. For full details please contact Capel Manor on 0181 366 4442.~

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000.Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.