I know it's too early now, but when do you plant strawb's and tomatoes?

[MaggieW]

I really want to grow some strawberries and cherry tomatoes this summer but am not sure when to plant them.

Also, someone recommended growing both in (separate) hanging baskets - has anyone tried it before?

strawberries can be planted out whenever (as plants - you don't grow them from seed) so really its' up to you, where you are going to get them and what you are going to put them in. Ken Muir are the mail order specialists and have lots of fab stuff to grow them in too

tomatoes you can grow from seeds or buy plants. if you are groiwng seeds the temptation is to get them going too early - for growing outdoors march onwards is quite early enough, and you need to get them going indoors. if you are buying plants to go straight outdoors then Aprilish you will start seeing them in the garden centres

you can do both in hanging baskets but need tobe fanatical about watering them regularly and copiously - at least daily

MaggieW agree with missing on the strawbs.

For tomatoes it does depend which part of the country you are in. I live in Scotland and I would never plant tomatoes outside before mid-May, but if you are in Southern England then April is probably fine. You have to be confident that the last of the frosts have passed.

Agree with the hanging basket advice. I've tried Tumbling Tom tomatoes in baskets a couple of times but have always failed as I find it almost impossible to water them regularly enough. But it must be possible as I've seen it recommended quite a bit.

plenty of watering is also necessary for Stawberries if you want nice juicy fruits. Although you could always try alpine strawberries which can deal with much harsher conditions and really are tough as anything. We have some self-sown alpine strawberries growing out of the top of a brick wall surroudning our garden - so if they can survive on that they can put up with pretty much anything!