Early spring checklist

At last! The grip of winter has passed and green shoots are visible, and there's a tingle in the air that says warmer, longer, brighter days are near. Now is the time to get your wellies and your gardening gloves back on, and get stuck into a new gardening year...

Vent greenhouses

It doesn’t necessarily have to be warm for the temperature in a greenhouse to soar. Vent structures on sunny days to avoid extreme temperature fluctuations which can hamper the progress of young seedlings.

Watch out for slugs

As soon as warmer weather arrives and new shoots begin to poke through, so too do the slugs and snails. Protect fresh growth from the rasping molluscs using wildlife-safe pellets, barriers or beer traps – sunken pots of beer into which they’re tempted and meet their untimely end!

Divide perennials

Overgrown and congested perennial plants can be lifted and divided up into smaller clumps. Replant these sections and discard the tired inner core. Plants will grow back much more vigorously for it.

Stem colour:

Glorious stem colour from the likes of dogwood (Cornus) and willows (Salix) requires drastic pruning before buds break for spring. Cut back stems to within a few inches of ground level to encourage fresh stems for next winter.

Top dress pots:

Container-grown plants will be tired after winter. Give them the fillip they need by removing the top layer of compost and replacing with fresh. Water on an organic fertiliser when plants start back into growth.