A polytunnel is probably the ugliest but most useful structure you can put in your garden, and certainly the best tool a vegetable gardener can have.

Essentially the self-watering polytunnel has a pond underneath it, one that can have its levels regulated. Steve describes it as 'a large sunken bathtub with the sky tap left running'.

Fuelled by a growing desire for a self-sufficient lifestyle and minimal environmental impact, Ellie O’Byrne installed her first polytunnel this year, she writes.

Polytunnels could become widespread in the English countryside after the Court of Appeal allowed their use in an area of outstanding natural beauty, conservationists fear.

Aubergines and peppers, for example, are relatively difficult to grow well in Ireland, even in a polytunnel, so I’d suggest giving them a miss unless you can’t resist the challenge.

Ant nests in the polytunnel. What to do? Paul Rumgay, Co Wexford This is a tough one. I once had to spend a couple of hours in a polytunnel where I was stung repeatedly by ants (I was helping out ...

A Jersey environmental group has opened a new polytunnel to extend its growing season. Grow Jersey said the £12,000 project, which was partly funded by St Helier Youth and Community Trust, would ...