SPOTLIGHT ON:

ALPINES

Alpines are among the earliest groups of plants to start flowering each year, so treat rock features to a pre-season tidy and freshen-up.

First, make any repairs to retaining walls around raised beds. Then start teasing out weeds, working carefully so you don’t dislodge any alpine plants.

Trim back spreading plants that have outgrown their space, and evict slugs or snails before they wreak havoc with early buds and soft new growth.

Use a small hand rake to rough up the surface of the bed. Do not push down deep as you don’t want to damage bulbs or roots. Aim to loosen up, turn over and even out existing gravel topping.

Use a few bags of gravel to freshen up the look of your rock feature. My top choice is pea shingle – it’s crisp and tidy without being overly pricy.

Sprinkle the gravel carefully between plants, a few handfuls at a time, and work it gently under the leaves of evergreens.

Any time now the first flowers will be appearing, so watch for dwarf spring bulbs including Iris reticulata, Cyclamen coum, Scilla tubergeniana and Narcissus cyclamineus, and also mat-forming evergreens such as blue-eyed-Mary (omphalodes), and saxifrages such as Jenkinsae.

It is a tad early to put in new plants but get into the habit of visiting the rock plant area at the garden centre to see what they have, since spring is the main season for sales.

New plants can be tucked into gaps throughout the year if you leave space.