10 Easy steps to a great garden

EASTER marks the start of the gardening year but already the grass is growing fast, tulips are opening and blossom is everywhere.

There’s lots to do in the weeks ahead but put the effort in now and your garden will flourish.

If you haven’t ventured into the garden since you put away the lawnmower last autumn then you really should start by tackling the grass.

Set the blades on their highest setting and give your lawn a light trim, then dig out the edging iron and create a crisp finish.

Have a general tidy-up. Remove leaves and litter that has been blown under bushes, scrub paths and patios and wash the outsides of pots that have been splashed by mud and rain.

Take the covers off the patio table, get the folding chairs out of the shed and pop some cushions on them to make an inviting place to sit.

Start to remove winter bedding and add a sprinkling of general fertiliser to the soil to prepare it for the summer.

If you have a greenhouse then you can buy bedding plug plants now and grow them on until the risk of frost has passed.

Fill hanging baskets with these small flowers. Allow them to grow under cover and they’ll give you early colour when the baskets to go outdoors.

Also under glass, plant up tomatoes – two to a Grobag – and give them some extra warmth. Peppers and chillies will appreciate the heat, too.

Increase watering to houseplants and begin to feed them with a dilute solution of tomato feed. If any are showing signs of outgrowing their containers, move them into a slightly larger pot.

Permanent plantings in outdoor containers will benefit from having the top 10cm of compost scraped off and replaced with fresh material. Add a slow-release fertiliser to the pots and water well.

Check the stakes on trees. These may have been loosened by winter gales or could be starting to tighten around growing trunks. If that’s the case, slacken them off or replace them if necessary.

Climbers of all kinds are staring to grow, so tie in new growth before it becomes rampant. With climbing roses the secret of getting lots of flowers is to tie the new stems as close to horizontal as possible, as that way buds will break along the entire length and not just at the tip.

Hedges may be looking unruly, but before you get stuck-in with the trimmers, make sure no birds are nesting there.