Your garden needs you!

Winter hasn’t made it easy so far this year – a lot of things which should have been done last month had to be put on hold, frozen beneath several feet on snow. Which is why the rush is on now.

So, the pressure’s on to plant summer-flowering bulbs and cut back any dead foliage left on perennials which are beginning to throw out new growth.

And as soon as two jobs are done, the work really starts – planting, pruning, sowing, feeding, mowing...Forget 
about sleep because the garden needs you now.

If the daffodils are looking past their best, dead-head them, but leave the foliage untouched. Better still, water the leaves with a weak general-purpose fertiliser.

Start weeding – anything which has taken root where it’s not welcome should be removed. You may find one or two self-seeded plants worth cultivating, so lift them and pop them into pots to grow them on.

Mow the lawn when conditions allow – that means when it’s not too wet or frozen. If that’s just not possible, trim the edges to keep things looking relatively tidy. Applying a combined moss killer/fertiliser will help green up the lawn and kill off unwanted plants.

If the lawn is past redemption, dig it up and re-seed or lay new turf.

Prune early-flowering shrubs; tie in shoots of rampant climbers; check the supports of trees and shrubs to make sure they are fit for purpose; keep an eye out for slugs and snails and deal with them before they become a major problem; take a breather.

Then it’s back to sowing greenhouse crops (that’s if you have a greenhouse; alternatively, use the conservatory or even a well-lit window sill) and planting up hanging-baskets and keeping them somewhere frost-free until the start of June when it should be safe for them to go outdoors.

And that’s just about it for the week. 
Take another breather because in a few days, it will be May and with it the 
prospect of better things to come – warmer weather being at the top of the list. And there will be a lot more work to do.