Getting ready for Spring

In spite of the cold weather, weed seedlings are beginning to appear, and should be dealt with as early as possible. However, it's not a good idea to tread on wet beds and borders, as your feet will compact the soil, ruining its structure. The weeds are best dealt with using a hoe, which can reach some distance. Care and caution are needed, as it is only too easy to chop off the heads of the emerging shoots of bulbs and herbaceous plants.

There may be repair work to be done where climbing plants have been torn adrift from their moorings by gale force winds or the weight of snow or icicles. Lynne, who has helped us in the garden once a week for over 20 years, uses one or two clothes pegs to anchor the shoots of rambler roses or other climbers to the supporting wires, leaving both hands free to cut lengths of flexi-tie, and use them to fasten the branches securely to the supports. Flexi-tie is a hollow, tubular, plastic product, better than string because it lasts longer, and better than wire because it expands with the plant stems and will not throttle them as wire does. The colour is an unobtrusive brown, so much better than the garish bright green of so many garden products. You can check it out at www.flexi-tie.co.uk.

I love flowers that come almost before winter is over, like snowdrops and aconites. The waxy, pink and white flowers of Daphne odora 'Aureomarginata' are about to open too. It is a compact, evergreen shrub with shiny green leaves, with the narrowest of yellow edges to each leaf. I planted it near the front door, so that we can enjoy its sweet, clean scent as we come and go. With the same effect in mind, I have planted up some outdoor garden pots with last year’s indoor hyacinths. I find the smell of hyacinths rather over-powering in the house, but I love the way it wafts around the garden.

If the weather is too wet to do anything except shop, now is the time to increase your collection of hellebores, or, if you don’t have a collection, start one. They come in such infinite variety that the best way to choose is to see them in flower. They range from very dark grape-purple with a boss of creamy stamens, through all shades of dusky crimson and pink, to greenish-creamy white, often with pretty, freckled markings. They are easy to grow in any partly shaded situation. They tend to hang their heads, so the ideal spot is a raised bed so that you can look into their faces more easily.

If you have a greenhouse to retreat to on rainy days, you can get broad beans off to a good start by sowing them in pots, wake geraniums from their winter snooze by bringing them into the light and watering them, then, when they start into growth, feeding them with liquid tomato food.

Keep putting food out for the birds if you want to go on enjoying their company through spring and summer.

Try not to let the weeds get the better of you, and enjoy just being out of doors whenever the weather permits.