It's time to spring into action, the busy springtime is here. With the rising temperatures and the longer hours of light, the garden plants will now put all there inner energy into outer growth. Check out the guide list below for some inspiring and workable ideas.

• Now's the time to do the landscaping and re designing endeavers. Laying paths or wooden decking, building natural walls to protect herbs and insects, re designing the borders, beds and fruit & veg areas, building a pavilion or even constructing or cleaning the garden pond. in a few weeks the garden will be exploding with life  and birds starting to nest, so do the heavy work and any construction work in the upcoming weeks.

• Many plants should be pruned back to a certain level in spring. Lavender, buddleia and ornamental grasses will all be happier now if pruned back. Pruning in March makes way for more growth and helps to encourage more flowers, foliage and colourful stems on a wide range of plants. Spring pruning also means you can ensure your plants keep a fine to the eye shape, instead of spreading into an uncontrolled jumbles area. Also take out dead, diseased or dying branches and stems. After pruning, boost up the plants and trees with a few handfulls of garden compost.

• There's just enough time left to prune the apple and pair trees, pruning after march can seriously hurt the tree. Always take care pruning Cherry Trees, pruning more than 20% of the cherry tree can seriously impair the trees growth, and it takes the affected tree quite some time to recover. Forsythia also needs careful treatment when pruning. Other plants such as buddleias and fuchsias can be pruned far back almost to ground level or to the primary trunk.

• Propagate pots of seeds such as Basil, Sage, Thyme, Oregano and Marjaram now in pots on south or west facing windows for an early start. cover the pots with plastic and pop a few holes in for ventilation to speed up the germination process.

• Position the bulbs in the earth now, (each bulb a few cm deep with the rooting clusp down) for a profusion of flowers in the summer and autumn. Anemone, Gladiolis, Lillies all give great colour and give the garden a deeper character. Most garden centers should have a good range of spring planting bulbs right now. It's also possible to purchase bulbs on Amazon and other more specialist online garden retailers.

• Refurb and repair old garden furniture, surrounding fences, garden features and pathways before the growing season is in full flow. Doing the heavy jobs now gives more time to sit back and enjoy the summer and autumn.

• Keep some areas of the garden wild and natural, retaining some of the gardens original wildness, creates a sanctuary for pollinating insects thus helping and supporting the entire garden.

Peter Carvello

March 2025.