Gardening Calendar

What's going on in your garden, and when:

March
April
May
June
July
August

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Use our handy guide to help you get the best out of your garden this year - just click on the month to see what's recommended.

With days getting longer and the sun getting warmer, there can be no doubt that spring has well and truly arrived.

• Apply plant foods to established borders

• Mulch bare soil

• Continue to prune overgrown and late-flowering shrubs

• Continue pruning roses

• Cut back perennials and grasses that were left over winter

• Divide overgrown clumps of perennials

• Dead-head daffodils

• Plant summer-flowering bulbs

• Sow hardy annuals out of doors

• Continue sowing bedding under cover

• Sow vegetables in prepared beds out of doors

• Protect fruit blossom from late frosts

• Treat moss on lawns

• Re-seed bare patches on lawns

• Start repotting houseplants

• Begin watering cacti after the winter break

• Check pond pumps and get them running

• Make sure the birds have plenty of food and fresh water

For many gardeners, April is the most exciting and beautiful month of the year. Bulbs, shrubs and alpines are bursting into bloom bringing colour and scent to parks and gardens everywhere and the picture is enhanced by the soft greens, golds and pinks of unfurling foliage.

• Plant new shrubs, perennials and rock plants

• Plant evergreen hedges

• Weed borders and mulch

• Prune shrubs that have finished flowering

• Prune lavenders and other grey-leaved shrubs

• Prune hydrangeas

• Continue to dead-head daffodils

• Check for pests especially on roses and in the greenhouse

• Continue to sow hardy annuals out of doors

• Plant out autumn-sown sweet peas

• Tie-in new growth of clematis and other climbers

• Plant maincrop potatoes

• Continue to sow vegetables outdoors

• Feed blackcurrants and blackberries

• Start sowing tender vegetables in the greenhouse

• Take cuttings of tender plants

• Treat moss on lawns and re-seed bare patches

• Create new lawns from seed

• Continue repotting houseplants and cacti

• Divide overgrown pond plants including water lilies

May is when plant growth speeds, up and spring turns into early summer.

• Be ready to protect plants against sudden frosts

• Water all new plantings if weather is dry

• Trim spring-flowering perennials

• Finish pruning spring-flowering shrubs

• Tidy up foliage of spring bulbs and mark

• Harden off summer bedding plants

• Plant up hanging baskets and patio pots

• Keep on top of pests and weeds

• Trim hedges and feed them

• Trim topiary and feed

• Keep sowing vegetables out of doors

• Continue to sow tender vegetables under cover

• Check greenhouse ventilation and shade

• Continue pruning trained plums and cherries

• Mulch strawberries with straw or mulch mats

• Cut lawns weekly and blitz lawn weeds

• Remove duckweed and blanket weed from ponds

Long summer days and warm light evenings make June the month when the most reluctant gardener will enjoy spending time outside, even if only to lounge on the patio with a cool drink.