Take a break – and give your indoor plants a holiday too

Mowing, planting, trimming, digging, preparing, sowing, pricking out, potting on, weeding; a gardener's mind can become too focused with what's to be done outside the house.

Step inside for a minute. Look around at all those plants which have made the winter bearable; the flowering plants and the foliage plants which have asked for nothing more than the occasional watering or feeding, and which have spent the dark months lifting the gloom.

Don't neglect them now after all they've done for you. They deserve to be treated with some love and respect.

Which is why everyone should spend some time working on the indoor garden, repotting, dead-heading, pruning, splitting and generally making sure that all those pot plants are given a tonic to see them through the summer in preparation for another autumn and winter.

So, any foliage plants which look sad and forlorn – yellowing leaves, poor growth etc – get them out of their pots, clean off as much of the old compost as you can, perhaps trim damaged or extravagant roots, and then repot them.

It may mean popping them into a slightly larger container, but so be it. Don't, however, go mad and stick them into pots where their roots would be lost. Go up one pot size at a time.

Crock the bottom of the pot, put in some new compost and then sit the plant's roots on top. Carefully add more compost, filling in any air holes. Don't compact the life out of the stuff, but make sure the plant is firmly accommodated. Then water well and leave to come round.

Not all plants will need such treatment; some might just do with having the top few centimetres of old compost removed and replaced with fresh. But if you're not sure, then go the whole hog.

Within a matter of days, repotted and rejuvenated plants should be growing well – and looking all the better for your work.

Some might like to spend some of the summer outdoors; others will be quite happy in a bright position out of direct sun.

But always ensure you know what conditions each plant likes before you reposition them.