Storing seeds

You'll find hundreds of different types of seed in our garden centre, from annual and biennial flowers to herbs and vegetables. It's like being let loose in a gardener's sweetshop. But once you've got your seeds home, how do you store them? Here are our top tips:

Use seed as fresh as possible: seeds like parsnips and carrots don't live long in storage so buy fresh each year. Other seed can be kept up to two years before it starts deteriorating.

Keep seeds in their original packets: that way you'll know what you've got, and you'll also have sowing instructions ready to hand next time you need them.

Keep them all together: look out for handsome seed boxes in our garden centre, ideal for holding your seed packets and keeping them neat and tidy till you need them

Close the packet properly: squeeze out as much air as you can, fold down the top and seal with a paperclip or elastic band.

Choose somewhere dark and cool: seeds store best somewhere unheated, reasonably dry, free of mice and at a more-or-less constant temperature. The fridge is ideal.

Please ask the staff in our garden centre in Athlone for more information and advice about storing your seeds.