Get a head start with potatoes by “chitting” your seed potatoes now. Label them well and put them, with 'eyes' upwards, in egg boxes or seed trays in a light but cool but frost-free room.

It’s best to get on top of those perennial weeds now, so whilst you’re out digging over beds and borders make sure your removing the roots thoroughly.

Mulching with an organic matter can still be done this month and allow the winter frosts and spring rains to incorporate it into the soil with out the need for digging. Make sure to use well rotted manure or a soil conditioner on your vegetable beds and hungry plants such as roses.

January is the time to prune fruit trees/bushes.

Cover areas in the vegetable patch with cloches or sheets to warm the soil for early sowings.

Dead head flowering plants in your containers to encourage more seasonal colour.

Now is the time to force rhubarb. Select a root and mulch with garden compost, cover with a bucket or a special rhubarb forcer.

If you are planning to grow cane fruit such as raspberries, plant them now (we stock an extensive selection of bare root raspberries). To ensure strong healthy plants trim back any thin or weak growth (the supporting canes should be about 15cm(6in) above the bush when you are finished). Free-standing fruit trees can be pruned now, remove the dead and dying branches, then look for any that are crossing over each other and remove them.

At this time of year, birds become bolder, venturing into gardens in search of scattered scraps and well-stocked feeders and bird tables.

Fallen apples can still be a good food source, which you can supplement with sliced fruit from the kitchen. You may be lucky enough to see more unusual visitors, such as fieldfares and redwings looking for berries and fruit in cold winter weather.

If you walk through woodland at this time of year you might hear a woodpecker hammering on dead wood, hunting out insect larvae in the bark. If you see a flash of red it's likely to be a great spotted woodpecker. These attractive birds may venture into larger urban gardens, especially if you leave dead wood or provide a peanut feeder.

For lovely summer colour try:

Antirrhinum, Begonia, Dianthus, Gazania, Geranium, Lobelia, Pansies or Sweet Peas.

Vegetables which do well from early sowings are:

Broad Beans (Aquadulce Claudia), Celeriac, Celery, Onions (Ailsa Craig), Salad Leaves and Spinach.

You don’t have to have a greenhouse to start these seeds, a bright windowsill will suffice.

Winter is a great time to focus on larger garden projects such as rockeries, paving, fencing, and pong building.

you can also be cracking on with:

Prune shrubs that have finished flowering and deciduous trees.

Prune hedges whilst birds arn’t nesting.

Put a top dressing and mulch around plants after tidying, pruning, planting. This helps to improve the soil, suppress weeds, insulate roots and retain moisture during the summer.

Regularly deadhead winter plants and bedding and sweep up fallen debris, to prevent disease spreading.

Prune climbers, and tie in climbers and climbing roses.

Lawn Care; Repair the lawn if it is not too wet or frosty but avoid compacting the soil. Cutting the lawn edges can really improve the look of your garden and save you work later on.

Trees, shrubs and climbers: It’s okay to move established plants, shrubs, trees and climbers and plant new specimens, as plants are dormant this month.

If you like propagating now is your last chance to take hardwood cuttings of ornamental shrubs such as Salix, Forsythia, Ribes, Elaeagnus, Rosa, Weigela, Cornus, Chaenomeles and Escallonia.

Delay pruning spring-flowering shrubs until immediately after flowering or you might lose this years display.

Cut back ornamental grasses and any other perennials that were left for some winter interest.

Most native wildlife is still be hibernating in February, but you may spot early risers such as bumblebees and hedgehogs that have emerged early in mild weather. They will be hungry after months of hibernation.

You can provide water and meat-based dog or cat food for hedgehogs that have come out of hibernation early. Leave the food out from dusk and cover or discard any that's left first thing in the morning.

We also sell a Hedgehog Blend and Hedgehog Bites for our little friends.

Winter is a great time to create habitats where wildlife can feed, sleep and hibernate. You can busy yourself with jobs such as digging a pond, making a making a log pile and planning what flowers you’ll grow for pollinators and other native insects.

Nest Boxes: These can be cleaned now ready for another pair of breeding birds, which usually start looking for places to raise their young in mid February. It’s also never too late to pop up another nest box – a sheltered spot facing north-east is the best location.

February is quite a cold month, but great for starting to sow your flower and vegetable seeds for the year.

Using a windwosill, greenhouse, growhouse or propagator are all options for seeds with different needs. Protection from frosts will be essential for vulnerable seedlings.

Once the weather warms up towards the end of the month, or into March, you can start to think about potting your seedlings on and hardening them off before the final stage of planting them out in your garden or vegetable plot.

Veggies to sow now:

Aubergine , Cucumber , Celery , Chillies , Lettuce , Peppers , Tomatoes , Onions , Kale , Leeks.

Ornamentals to sow now:

Delphinium , Sweet peas , Salvia , Cosmos , Busy Lizzies , Lavender , Bedding Dahlias.

Continue to plant pot grown Ornamental Trees as well as apple and pear trees. Fruit trees prefer sheltered positions in full sun. Plant stone-fruit trees such as plum, cherry and apricot - perfect for eating and preserve-making.

Lift and divide established perennial plants.

Plant spring varieties of onion, shallot and garlic sets now after the risk of frost has passed.

Plant chitted first and second early potatoes outside in the ground.

Fruit to sow and grow

Rubarb crowns can be planted in March and require a rich fertile site.

Plant strawberry plants in the ground, tubs, mixed with seasonal colour plants or hanging baskets. Lifting them lifts them away from slugs and snails too.

Plant begonia tubers in the greenhouse this month, positioning them just below the compost surface with the indented side facing upwards.

Plant summer-flowering bulbs such as gladiolus, lilies and ranunculus into beds, borders and containers.

Lily bulbs should be planted at 3 times their own length - this will protect them from hot summer sun and help to support their height.

Snowdrop bulbs are planted in Autumn, however 'Snowdrops in the green' are available in spring for instant flowers and bulk up ready for your winter garden next year. Snowdrops enjoy shady moist soil.

Agapanthus and alstroemeria are now available in our bulb department ready to provide joyful summer colour - these are great for cut flowers in the house as well as all summer long border colour.

Dahlia planting is easy: Plant your tubers in containers with the top of the tubers, where the new shoots will appear, should be at the soil surface.

Flowers to direct sow or sow into pots now; Direct sow hardy annual seeds: Sunflowers, stocks, poppies, and cornflowers amongst other hardy annuals. Direct sow wildflower seed mixtures into raked soil in a sunny position.

Sow sweet peas seeds directly into a bed outdoors. Don’t forget to provide support when seedlings emerge and start to climb.

Flowers to sow in the greenhouse/indoors; Sow half-hardy annual seeds inside now, to plant out around May/June. Ageratum, aster, brachycome, cosmos, celosia, petunia and salvia can be sown in a heated propagator or on a warm windowsill.

Vegetables and Herbs to sow in March: Direct sow early broad bean varieties direct into the veg garden in March. Peas are best sown in a protected spot as their a favourite of mice.

Veg for in the greenhouse / indoors: Start off aubergine, sweet pepper, tomatoes, cucumbers (greenhouse and outdoor cultivars), gherkins and mild chilli seeds in a heated propagator — many of these these plants can stay in the greenhouse over summer or go outside in a sunny spot.

Sow: celery, celeriac (they need a long growing season) cauliflower, brussels sprouts in a cold greenhouse ready to plant out later in spring. Salads and tender herbs can be sown in pots on the windowsill for fresh, healthy leaves.

Sow seeds for perennial herbs such as lemon balm, rosemary, sage, oregano and thyme inside ready to be planted outside once frosts have passed.

Begin direct sowing outside:Beetroot, carrot, chicory, Swiss chard, spinach and spring-onion. If rodents are a problem, sow these seeds into modules in a protected spot ready for potting out after seedlings have developed true leaves and have developed a healthy root system.

Aprils weather remains unpredictable so be prepared. Cover your tender plants until the frost or cold weather has passed.

On warmer days slugs and snails we try todevour all the soft new foliage growth on flowers and veggies, so be vigilant.

Caring for Bedding plants: If you have a greenhouse, lean to or frost free area, you can save money by buying trays of bedding plants in April, these are cheaper, and designed for you to grow them on in sheltered frost free conditions.

When to plant out bedding plants?

The gardeners rule of thumb is not plant out bedding plants until ALL risk of frost has passed. Which is most likely to be towards the end of May. You can plant out earlier, but monitor the weather, and if frost is forecast, you will need to protect with a cloche or fleece.

Most bedding plants are not hardy which means they will not withstand a frost which could severely set back the plant, or even kill it.

Pruning in April

Now is a good time to prune Buddleia davidii which helps to keep them in shape and flowering. Prune lavender, rosemary and sage , always avoid cutting into the woody parts of the plant.

April is the last chance to prune Cornus. By pruning hard in March /April, dogwoods will have a vibrant stem colour next winter. This is a hard prune, cut down to within a few buds to the base.

Deadhead tulips and daffodils as needed but leave the foliage to die back naturally. as the foliage dies back the bulb is fed for flowering next year.

Tie in new plant growth ; New growth on plants and climbers will benefit from being tied in.

Stake Perennials: tall perennials and grasses may need support.

Harden off plants: Plants grown in protected conditions such as those from inside polytunnels or grown in a frost and wind free greenhouse, will not do well if they are planted outside without time to "harden off". This means gradually acclimatising the plants to the weather. On mild days in April, put your trays of plants outside and bring back in at night.

April is a good time to give your garden a feed just as the growing season is starting.

Sprinkle a general fertiliser around the base of all the shrubs, trees, under hedges, on top of and where you know your dormant perennials are hiding.

Suitable fertilisers would be blood fish and bone, bonemeal, chicken manure and slow release pellets.

Towards the end of the month you can also start applying faster release plant foods such as Growmore.

Ericaceous plants require a special food and compost to mulch with. We sell a wide selection of ericaceous composts as well as fertilisers (quick and slow release). These include Camellias, Rhododendrons, and Magnolia amongst others.

Flowers to sow and grow in April:

In the greenhouse / indoors : Sow nasturtiums in pots and modules now. Once all risk of frost has passed they can go out, old compost can be used as richer soil will produce more foliage and fewer flowers.

Sow petunias, scabious (to attract bees and butterflies) marigolds, salvia, ageratum and zinnia.

Plant up summer hanging baskets with bedding but keep them under cover until risk of frost has passed.

Plant outdoors:

Now is a great time to buy small pot perennials from us, we have a great selection of early season flowers such as: Lupins, aquilegia, foxgloves, hollyhocks, poppies amongst many many more

Herbs & Vegetables to sow and grow:

In the greenhouse/indoors: Prick out seedlings into pots or modules for growing on until all frosts have passed.

Begin sowing ow courgette, pumpkin, squash and under cover (no heat required) Sow cucumbers on their sides at the end of the month..

Sow beans (French, runner, peas, mangetout, sugar snaps) seeds under cover at the end of the month.

Direct sow outdoors: Calendula, globe artichokes, Jerusalem artichoke tubers, beetroot, broad beans, brassica and leafy green seeds directly into seedbeds.

Herbs; chives, coriander, dill and parsley can be sown directly into the ground or in pots.

Plant baby leeks into their final positions outdoors. Start off sweetcorn kernels in modules, for planting out after all risk of frost has passed.

Continue to plant your chitted second early potatoes.