This season in the garden

The country habit has me by the heart,
For he's bewitched for ever who has seen,
Not with his eyes but with his vision, Spring
Flow down the woods and stipple leaves with sun.

Vita Sackville-West

Spring is a magical time in the garden - all around plants are heralding the arrival of the new season, unfurling new leaves and disclosing their spring colours after a long winter's slumber. Spring flowering bulbs and perennials attest to nature's unfailing renewal and emerging buds on deciduous shrubs promise new life to come. Be inspired by this delirious display of activity to make progress with your own plot of land, enjoy the fresh, clear spring weather, and be attuned to the resurgence of birdsong in your neighbourhood.

• Revitalise your lawn. Use a proprietary, slow-release high-nitrogen lawn fertilizer to restore greenness and keep your lawn going through the summer. Mow your lawn when it's dry enough with the blades set high. Scarify it lightly in mid- to late spring with a wire rake to remove any thatch that's built up over the winter. Use feed and weed products to stop weeds taking hold. Sweep worm-casts off your lawn with a stiff brush to help prevent weeds and damage. Now is a good time to create a new lawn, either by laying turf or from seed, but prepare the ground thoroughly at least a month beforehand. Repair any worn areas by reseeding and tidy the edges with a half moon cutter where necessary.
• Feed your garden. There are proprietary fertilizers to suit all your garden plants. A balanced fertiliser will contain Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium (NPK). Phosphates promote strong root growth, Nitrogen promotes vigorous growth to the green parts of the plant, Potassium encourages flowering and fruit growth. A slow release fertilizer will release its nutrients gradually. Feed fruit trees early in spring. Flowering shrubs will benefit from a high potash rose food.
• Look after your soil. Care taken with improving soil now will reap benefits for your plants for the rest of the year. Top up your soil with a layer of mulch, such as leaf mould, chipped or composted bark, wood chips, well rotted animal manure. Mulching in early spring will keep the soil cooler and help prevent overheating in summer. It will also help suppress the growth of weeds. The regular addition of compost throughout the year will help with water retention and will improve the soil significantly, ultimately producing a rich, organic loam which worms love! Check the pH of your soil though - regular feeding and composting will increase the acidity of the soil and you may need to lime it to compensate if the pH has dropped below the optimum range (5.5-7.5), unless you have acid loving plants such as rhododendrons and camellias.
• Cut out dead and diseased wood. Prune shrubs and climbers that flower on new wood, and hydrangeas - encourage a balanced shape cutting above an outward facing bud, to ensure branches don't cross each other. Avoid pruning spring- and early summer- flowering shrubs that flower on old wood though, as you may be removing flower buds. Prune old stems of early flowering shrubs when flowering is over, and dead-head unless seeds are required. Prune spring-flowering climbers that flower on old wood in late spring after flowering. Avoid pruning young plants until all chance of late frosts has passed. Remove dead growth of half-hardy perennials and cut back shrubby perennials and herbs in early to mid spring.
• Start pruning roses from around mid-February onwards, except climbers that flower only once in the summer. Plant container grown roses in prepared ground, or bare-root roses in early spring in cold areas. Start spraying roses against pests and diseases in late spring.
• Coppice plants grown for summer foliage or winter stems, for example Cornus. Cutting the stems down to about 3-4 inches will encourage vigorous growth and strong coloured stems.
• Deadhead spring-flowering perennials to promote further flushes of flowers. Lift and divide over-crowded perennials or clumps that are dying in the middle.
• Spring is a great time for planting, when conditions permit and in prepared ground. Plant bare rooted trees and shrubs before they break dormancy. Spring is the ideal time to plant hedges. Buy and plant spring flowering shrubs now, while you can see what they look like in flower. All shrubs can be planted in spring. Deciduous shrubs can be transplanted. Plant hardy perennials, container-grown herbs, biennials and hardy annuals. Sow half-hardy annual seed in trays in light, preferrably sieved, soil, and keep moist and dark until seedlings start to show, then give them light. Plant cuttings in prepared trays and keep in the greenhouse or indoors. Sow hardy annuals, leeks and brassicas in rows in an outdoor seed-bed to transplant later on.
• Give the pond a spring clean, and divide water plants, including water lilies.
• Summer flowering bulbs and tubers are available now. Some require protection from frosts and should be planted in pots indoors, to be tranplanted outside when the risk of frost has passed. Others can be planted outside directly.
• Keep on top of the weeds now - it will save you time later when the weeds have seeded.
• Keep an eye on the insect pest life - vigorous hosing and picking them off by hand will help keep them in check. Use a systemic insecticide if they start to get out of hand.

Finally, take time to just sit and enjoy your garden at nature's most energetic time of year.