SPRING GARDENING TIPS

This is it: the moment we’ve all been waiting for since we put our trowels down last autumn.

Now it’s well and truly spring, the days are getting warmer and the evenings longer, you’ll want to be outside in the garden from dawn till dusk

The birds are singing, the daffodils are dallying and buds are unfurling everywhere you look. What a great time to be a gardener!

As well as the bright yellows and blues of spring flowers, remember to enjoy the pale greens and bronzes of unfurling buds and emerging shoots: some plants are particularly beautiful as they’re waking up from their winter sleep.

We hope you are going to have a great Easter weekend.

Since spring is a time for new beginnings, here are some projects to get your teeth into to start your new gardening year with a bang.Mulch and feed all your plants so they’re ready to put on the display of their lives. A covering of mulch neatens everything up too, like an instant makeover for your garden.Plant up bedding containers with colourful geraniums, fuchsias, lobelias and petunias but remember to keep frost free till next month.Redesign a border: now is the time to lift and replant existing plants, and plant out new ones. Sketch your ideas out first, then have fun creating your own masterpiece.

Start a cutting garden to fill your vases all summer. Sow annuals like cosmos and sweet peas, backed up with rows of handsome perennial blooms for a long-lasting supply.Sow veg direct to fill up your patch with delicious goodies to keep your plates piled high. Carrots, turnips, new potatoes and salads can all go in now.