IT'S been a bit of a hectic week. I have been doing the coast to coast walk. Well, to be fair, I haven't actually been treading out the whole soggy 192 miles, but have been undertaking the most important task of backup support.

It has meant lots of hanging around in pubs and hotels across the country, as well as seeing some of the most spectacular scenery in the country (so not all bad). On Friday, it all ended in Robin Hood's Bay with brief toe end dipped in the ocean and weary wave of the champagne bottle.

The intention was to stay overnight and for all of us to make our way back home the following day. However, being the start of the Easter holidays, there were no rooms left in Robin Hood's Bay at all. Undeterred, we made our way up the coast and found some superb lodgings in Runswick Bay.

It wasn't a wild night of celebration and congratulation, more of a sedate pat on the back and an early retreat up the stairs for some well deserved sleep.

Rather than rush straight home the next day, we took a leisurely stroll down to the sea front. There has certainly been some money pumped into the area over the last few months. The pathway down, through the ivy covered woodland, has a new handrail and several well-positioned seats. Many houses have been given facelifts and makeovers. Most interestingly for me though, some of the overgrown terraced gardens are starting to be cleared and planted up.

We are quite bad in this country at utilising terraced space. We often let nature take its course or simply grass it all over. On the continent, they create massively productive vegetable gardens and flower filled tiers of borders.

Down amongst the higgledy piggledy collection of houses which seem to have been thrown onto the cliff side, and which cling onto the rocks like the nearby limpets, I came across one absolutely stunning garden. It was a triangular patch of land, walled all around. A thick layer of snow in summer (cerastium tomentosum) formed a buffer on the edge of the wall, softening it. It was one of those fluffy mounds that you felt compelled to stroke as you walked past.

In a few months, the grey leaves would form a backdrop to a million star-like, little white flowers. For the moment though, the lilac haze of the alyssum burst forwards from between the crevices of the top wall. This was matched by the deep purple bottle brush flowers of the dark green hebe bushes. Straps of phormium and cordyline leaves punctuated the calm aura and culminated in the tall fragrant spires of a flowering yucca plant.

Lobed forms of coastal tolerant shrubs such as eleagnus, escallonia, genista and senecio covered the ground. Fragrance came from rosemary, already cloaked in dew drop blue flowers, and lavender, just beginning to put on new growth for the year. Under the front door, a coppiced eucalyptus tree maintained the blue theme.

This was a garden that had been carefully created using the tight terraced beds to show off the best of the plants. The right plants had been placed and were growing in the right places. There would be no struggling or careful nurturing. It was a perfect example of making gardening easy by restricting the plants to only those that would survive in the windswept, salty but warm environment.

JOBS THIS WEEK

WATCH out for slugs and snails. Protect newly emerging shoots of vulnerable perennials such as hostas and lupins from damage.

CHECK lawnmowers are in good working order ready to give the lawn its first cuts. Make sure that the blades are sharp on rotary mowers so as to prevent them ripping at the grass. Remember to only take the tips off the grass by raising the cutting height for the first few cuts.

SOW tomato seeds under cover, or inside on the window shelves, ready for planting in the greenhouse later in the year. Try some of the new varieties for a change. The small yellow 'ildi' are a favourite of mine.

GARDENERS' QUESTIONS

MR Brunton has grown carrots for 15 years, but for the last three he has suffered badly from carrot fly.

He wants to know if there is anything that can be done to prevent them coming back this year.

IN theory, the earlier you sow your carrots, the better the chance of avoiding carrot fly. Try sowing now and again in a few weeks, before the adult fly is on the wing. You can also protect the carrots by growing them under fleece, or by erecting a 2ft high barrier around the bed. I find that growing carrots in a tower of three tyres works well. Fill the bottom two with soil.

The walls of the top tyre hide the carrots and fool the carrot fly. You can always drape a piece of fleece over the top of the tyre mound as an extra precaution. Alternatively, you can mix the carrot seed with annual flowers such as love-in-the-mist, marigolds or poppies. The carrots develop normally but the fly is confused and tends not do as much damage.

BRENDA from Darlington wants to know if there is any way of reviving an overgrown and straggly sage bush that has been wonderful over the years but is now an eyesore.

SAGE does tend to become exhausted after a few seasons, growing gnarled woody stems that produce fewer and fewer shoots each year. The best course of action is to take a few cuttings every year during the summer.

Select fresh young shoots without flower buds and trim down to about three inches. Pop them in gritty compost and leave outside in a sheltered spot for two to three months.

Quite often sage will layer itself, when a stem touches the ground or gets covered with soil. If this occurs then cut the new plant away from its mother plant and pot on.

POSTSCRIPT Tune in to 95FM, BBC Radio Cleveland's 'Ask about Gardening' every Sunday from 12-2pm, presented by Brigid Press, to hear more horticultural chat, tips and questions.

Questions for Brigid to answer in The Northern Echo should be sent to brigidpress@hotmail. com or to her c/o Nature's World, Ladgate Lane, Acklam, Middlesbrough.

Published: 10/04/2004