Jobs for the Garden this Month

- Things are really exciting in the garden now, and every day another bud opens and foliage unfolds. We are well into spring, but the nights can still be very cold with late frosts so keep fleece at the ready to protect tender and young plants.

- As the soil is warming up, so the weeds appear! The best way to get rid of annual weeds is to pull them out or hoe them off before they flower and set seed. Perennial weeds should be dug out.

- Prune spring flowering shrubs immediately after flowering e.g forsythia and flowering currant, cutting back shoots that have flowered this spring to their base.

- Sprinkle a handful of fertiliser around the base after pruning and water in.

- Softwood cuttings can be taken from plants like fuchsias and salvias so you can make more plants for free.

- Prick out seedlings and pot into individual pots.

- In the vegetable garden, plant out leeks and brassicas and direct sow spinach, carrots and lettuce.

Elizabeth Rees
Trips Secretary