Spring

‘Springtime is the land awakening. The March winds are the morning yawn’ Lewis Grizzard.

March

• Prepare seed beds by adding good compost and raking over until you get a fine tilth. Cover the bed with black plastic to help warm the soil up in anticipation of sowing seeds.
• Sow seeds in trays in the house on a sunny window sill or in a green house.
• Protect new shoots of bulbs, perennials and shrubs from slugs
• Lay turf or use seed to repair patches in lawns.
• Prune your Roses when the last frost has past. Remember to remove any dead or diseased stems as well as crossing stems. Give them, and your other flowering shrubs, a feed with “Toprose”.

April

• Start mowing the lawn regularly and apply a lawn weed and feed.
• Plant new roses, trees, shrubs and perennials. Do not forget to feed them with a general purpose fertiliser.
• Prick out half-hardy annual seedlings or pot them up as necessary.
• Plant summer flowering bulbs such as Lilies, Begonias and Dahlias.
• Mothers’ Day is March 26th. Why not buy the one you love a spring – flowering Camellia or a basket of Violas from The Secret Garden.
• Freshen up pots, window boxes and hanging baskets with spring bedding plants such as Daffodils, Primroses and Violas.

May

• After the last frost, plant out half-hardy annuals in containers and outdoor beds
• Take cuttings from new growth of shrubs and perennials
• Cut back spring flowering bulbs after the foliage has faded to yellow / brown.
• Plant shrubs such as lilacs or Hydrangeas.
• Clean the Patio or decking ready for summer
• Check for nesting birds before pruning hedge