Hello fellow gardeners. As the first signs of spring arrive with some bulbs starting to show your garden will welcome a spring clean.  February is the best time to prune shrubs and  climbers and evergreen hedges  will  all benefit with a trim. If you have wisteria its the best time to prune to encourage new growth. You can also redesign the garden making some changes to the borders by splitting and moving perennials. For low maintenance gardens, mulch the borders with bark –  this will keep the weeds down and conserve the moisture. Don’t forget to wash your hanging baskets with Jeyes fluid ready for planting at the end of the month and most importantly, line them with plastic. This really helps with conserving moisture and does help to stop them drying out. One of my main jobs now, although there is no sign of growth yet,  is to water some liquid slug killer around the hostas which will greatly reduce the damage to the new shoots

In the vegetable garden you can chit potatoes prepare seed beds and sow some vegetables under cover. I know this cold weather does not help but I  force myself to walk around the garden and before long I have picked up the secateurs and find myself spending a couple of hours outside, coming back in feeling alive and refreshed. Do not forget gardening is used as occupational therapy and helps with mobility issues.

Enjoy your garden and I will be back in March with some good tips .

Norman Conway.