10 Top Tips for Growing Fruit and Vegetables in 2025
Whether you’re a seasoned gardener or just starting your first raised bed, growing your own fruit and veg has never been more rewarding—or more important. With rising food prices, increased awareness of food miles, and the joy of knowing exactly what you’re eating, 2025 is a great year to dig in.
Here are 10 top tips to help you get the best from your crops this season:
1. Carrots Love a Deep, Loose Bed
Carrots do best when sown in well-prepared, deep soil. Loosen the soil thoroughly and enrich it with organic compost, blood and bone, or chicken manure pellets to support healthy root growth. Cover the rows with fine mesh netting—this not only boosts warmth and moisture retention but also protects against carrot fly, a pest that’s increasingly common as seasons shift.
2. Companion Planting with Marigolds for Tomatoes
Tomatoes thrive when surrounded by marigolds. These cheerful flowers are more than just pretty—they repel whitefly, which can devastate your tomato plants. This natural pest control method also works well in containers or greenhouse setups.
3. DIY Organic Spray for Flies
Whitefly and blackfly can be a real nuisance on crops like strawberries, sweetcorn, and tomatoes. A simple, old-school remedy still works wonders: dissolve 1 tablespoon of soap flakes in 2 litres of water, and spray directly onto affected leaves. It’s gentle on plants but harsh on pests.
4. Boost Pollination with Bee-Friendly Plants
No bees, no fruit. Add pollinator-friendly plants like lavender, borage, or thyme around your garden to attract bees and other beneficial insects. Better pollination means bigger yields, especially for fruiting crops like courgettes, cucumbers, and squash.
5. Rotate Your Crops Yearly
Crop rotation isn’t just for farmers. Shuffling your plant families around each year reduces disease build-up and helps maintain soil health. For example, don’t grow tomatoes, potatoes, and peppers in the same spot two years in a row—they’re all in the nightshade family and can carry the same diseases.
6. Mulch to Save Water and Fight Weeds
With hotter, drier summers becoming the norm, mulching is more important than ever. A layer of straw, compost, or leaf mould locks in moisture, regulates temperature, and suppresses weeds. Use it around everything from courgettes to raspberries.
7. Start Seeds Indoors (Even Cheaply!)
You don’t need a fancy greenhouse—just a sunny windowsill and some recycled containers. Starting your seeds indoors gives them a head start and protects them from late frosts. In 2025, growing your own from seed is still one of the best ways to save money and control what you grow.
8. Harvest Rainwater
Install a water butt or two to collect rain from your shed or house roof. With unpredictable weather and hosepipe bans becoming more common, stored rainwater is a great insurance policy—especially for thirsty plants like pumpkins and beans.
9. Grow What You Actually Eat
It’s easy to get carried away with exotic seeds, but the best crops are the ones you use regularly. Lettuce, spring onions, herbs, carrots, runner beans, potatoes, and soft fruits are all productive, low-maintenance choices for most UK gardens.
10. Keep a Garden Journal
It sounds basic, but keeping a simple notebook (or digital app) of what you planted, when, and how it performed can help you improve year after year. Log weather patterns, pest outbreaks, and what worked well. It’s the best way to build long-term success from one growing season to the next.
