Mr Skill

The Royal Horticultural Society seems endlessly full of good ideas to make Britain even lovelier. This year, it’s inviting the nation’s schoolchildren to commit to sowing wildflowers as their contribution to the Golden Jubilee. Right now they’re inviting applications from kids for free packs of seeds. This is what to do with them, after they arrive.

• Find a site where you’d love to see summer come alive, with a riot of poppies, marigolds, chamomile, cockles and cornflowers. The best place to sow them would be moist, wind-free, and benefiting from four hours of sunshine a day.

• If the area you choose is full of weeds and stones, you may wish to Find a Gardener here to prepare the soil for you this mid-March. If the quality of the earth is poor, ask them to dig in some well-composted material or a balanced fertiliser while they’re at it.

• Dispose of any weeds that appear in the weeks that follow. The ideal sowing period is mid-April. Sow later than that, and the young plants may shrivel in the heat of summer. The society’s seed packs are good for 10m².  Stick to that – enjoy this great show of colour.

• If you really have to, you could Ask Mr-Skill for Gardening Quotes to do the sowing for you, although this isn’t necessary unless you face other challenges.

London Gardeners recommend placing a scarecrow in the middle of your field to keep scavenging birds away from seeds.

Now that would make an interesting weekend project, would it not?