TO DO LIST

■ Although summer bedding and patio plants are on sale now, don’t be tempted to plant them yet. Unless you have suitable cover, wait until mid-May when there is very little risk of frost.

■ Plant dormant dahlia tubers in the garden, about 4-6ins deep. Don’t worry about frost damage – the young shoots won’t emerge above the soil before the weather has warmed up.

■ If the weather is fairly mild, start hardening off home-grown annual bedding plants. Stand them in a cold frame, opening the lid on fine days and closing it at night. Alternatively, stand plants outside on fine days and bring them back in at night.

■ Earth up any potato shoots that are showing through the soil, scraping up surrounding soil to build up ridges along the rows of plants.