Winter’s nearly over so follow my top 10 tips to make a great start to the gardening year

Magnolias are blossoming, there are daffodils everywhere, the days are getting longer and the birds have started to sing – yes, spring is here! There’s plenty to do in the garden but where do you start?

One of the wonderful aspects of gardening is that you get a fresh go at it each year.

Here are my top 10 tips to get you going again after your winter rest.

There aren’t many active slugs or snails around at the moment – they are waiting for warmer weather before pouncing. Be prepared for the new young ones that will be developing an appetite. Make decisions about your method of pest control early.

With slugs you could consider the organic methods such as beer traps, organic pellets, crushed egg shells or sharp grit around plants.

Copper bands around pots are another method that some people rely upon. Don’t feed plants with instant boosts too early. Encouraging soft green growth at this time of the year can be tricky because if we get late frosts, fresh buds and new shoots may be burned or worse.

Before the rush, go out and look at your gardening equipment. It may be that the lawnmower blades or shears need a bit of a sharpen. Get them down to the hardware store while they aren’t too busy.

Even now in mid-March you can have instant spring colour. Garden centres are full of wonderful flowering plants such as Bellis perennis and erysimum.

You could celebrate the arrival of spring by potting up some combinations of colour in baskets or tubs.

Parts of your garden, such as the lawn, are like sponges. Water may be just lying there near the surface with no means of escape.

You can aerate a lawn either by hiring a specialist machine, or take the manual approach and stick the prongs

plants healthy.

Pots and containers – many of us have a bad habit of reusing wornout soil and compost for new planting. It may be time to spread this old material through your borders and

Being prepared ensures seed success of a garden fork into the soil to a depth of 6-8in, then brush in some silver sand to improve drainage.You need plenty of channels to allow moisture to escape and help ensure an exchange of gases occurs to keep the roots of the humble grass