• Plants in pots are ideal for enhancing your garden or balcony.
• You can create a stylish feel by opting for a particular colour theme or a particular type of plant in different colours.
• You can also create attractive combinations by mixing flowering plants with eye-catching foliage plants.
• Also don't forget hanging baskets and containers for dressing dull walls or forgotten corners.

• Everything that can grow, flower and live in the pond can go into it now. This includes water hyacinth, water lettuce and other tropical varieties. Ensure that two-thirds of the surface remains free of plants.
• Turn the pump on again and place fresh bacteria in the bio filter.

• You can prune early-flowering shrubs which have finished flowering now. On varieties like Forsythia, Ribes and Spiraea cut off a few of the oldest branches every year. This constantly rejuvenates the bushes and means that they continue to bloom magnificently every year.
• Cut the brown sprays that have finished flowering from the lilac. This will ensure it flowers even better next year.
• Prune the winter heather that has finished flowering now.
• It is time to trim hedges in order to prevent them from growing too vigorously. Careful not to prune any hedges if birds are nesting in them.

• You can sow sunflowers now: these big flowers are easy, fun and lovely for children.
• You can continue to plant evergreen shrubs and conifers until mid-May - they are sometimes supplied with the rootball in sacking.
• If perennials are not showing signs of life yet, then they have not survived the winter. Replace them with new plants and enrich the soil there with fertiliser and compost.
• Dig up plants which show few signs of life, cut or divide off the young edges, replant them and throw away the old hearts.
• You can also consider planting tropical flowering plants like Canna outside now. You can continue to put in summer-flowering plants until mid-May.
• Plant herbs in the sunniest, most sheltered spot possible. Most kitchen herbs also grow very well in pots and troughs.
• Plant some salad leaves into pots near the back door which makes them handy for continual cropping.
• Get great summer colour by planting hardy annual seeds direct into borders. Give poppies, cornflowers, ‘Love-in-a-mist' (Nigella) and marigolds a try. Sweet corn, runner beans and French beans can be sown directly into outdoor plots.
• Lettuce, peas, broad beans and radishes can all be sown in short rows for successional cropping. Although it is late to sow tomatoes, we are now stocking a range of young plants to grow on.

• The grass is now growing vigorously and you will have to mow it more often. Don't forget to feed the grass, since whatever you cut and remove is a potential store of energy for the grass plants.
• Give your paths and patio a good spring clean with a pressure washer or wire patio brush.
• Tall perennials need extra support now. Its best not to bind bunches of stems to canes; ideally take account of the shape of the plant.
• Guide new shoots to where you want them. In many cases they can be inserted between the existing stems, but you will sometimes have to prune in order to keep them under control and regularly tie them again.
• Fertilise hedges at the roots in order to prevent them from looking elsewhere for food and competing with your other plants. Preferably use special food for hedge plants.
• If you want to keep bulbs, they need to take up a sufficient reserve of food. That can only happen if you leave the foliage to wither slowly. Only remove it when it is completely yellowed. This applies not only to bulb crops that you want to allow to go wild, like snowbells, crocus and narcissi, but also for bulbs that you want to dig up and store, like tulips. Mow around withering bulbs in the lawn.
• Young plants in particular need regular watering. Ideally give them rainwater at the right temperature. Water caught in a water butt is perfect. When watering plants with a hose from the mains, allow the water to fall in a fine mist, it will have had time to take on some of the ambient temperature, which is preferable.
• Don't forget to keep newly planted shrubs and trees well watered too until they are well established.
• Clear away spring bedding plants and prepare the ground for summer bedding. Harden off your summer bedding plants so that they are ready to go out when all danger of frost has passed.
• Lift and divide primroses after flowering.
• Keep an eye out for pests and nip them in the bud as soon as they appear. You can get extra help with this by attracting birds to your garden. Not only will they visit your feeders but they will also check out your plants for tasty morsels.
• Apply glasshouse shading or start to use blinds now, and remember to ventilate.
• Perennial weeds in the lawn can be treated with a selective herbicide.
• Start to remove sideshoots from the leaf axils of cordon tomatoes.
• Transplant brassicas such as Brussels sprouts to their cropping positions.
• Remove mildewed foliage from plants such as Pulmonaria. Cut to the base, water well and fresh leaves will grow.
• Pull up forget-me-nots after flowering. For a display next year, leave longer so plants are allowed to self seed.

Their intoxicating scents and fabulous show of colours make sweet peas a must for your garden.

Sweet peas evoke thoughts of glorious cottage gardens bursting with a proliferation of flowers in a rainbow of colours. Who can forget the added attraction of their delicious heady scent? Not only do they make truly garden-worthy flowers, blooming for a minimum of two months during the summer, they also provide glorious cut flowers for the home. It's true that sweet peas perform much better if the flowers are not allowed to set seed, so regular cutting is essential.

Sweet peas are easy to grow. Sow seeds in October or January and overwinter in a cold frame or greenhouse. But don't despair if you missed out on planting time. We have a variety of sweet peas in stock at the moment.

Make sure you plant sweet peas in a sunny spot. Ideal garden conditions will also include well-cultivated soil fed with a proprietary feed such as Growing Success Organic Bedding Plant Fertiliser.

Lathyrus odorata are climbers that require support to look their best. Allow them to grow naturally up an obelisk to create an appealing focal point that every garden can accommodate. Patio gardeners can also experience the joy of the sweet pea with low-growing types such as the Cupid series. The gorgeous ‘Pink Cupid' produces pink and white bi-coloured flowers ideal for planting alone or in combination.

Tips for Success

• Prepare and feed your ground before planting
• Start of seeds in Autumn/Winter
• Plant out in early spring
• Plant in full sun
• Keep well watered throughout the season
• Cut, cut and cut again. Don't let the plants go to seed
• Tie in plants to their supports regularly
• Feed as necessary (let your plants be your guide) throughout the season. Ask us for advice on suitable products

Favourite Sweet Peas

Mixtures

Superb range to suit all situations. Best for first-time growers.

• ‘Old Fashioned' or ‘Cottage Garden Mixed' - for colour and height
• ‘Cupid' - only grows to 30cm; trails along the ground
• ‘Continental Mixed' - suitable for container or obelisk
• ‘Flower Arranger Mixed' - more unusual colours and longer stems

Grandiflora (Heirloom)

The original sweet pea with smaller flowers than the Spencer types.

• ‘America' - crimson red stripes on a white background
• ‘Black Knight' - deep maroon flowers
• ‘Captain of the Blues' - deep blue and purple bi-colour
• ‘Cupani' - purple/blue flowers with a very strong scent
• ‘Lord Nelson' - well scented with indigo blue petals that darken at the edges
• ‘Mrs Collier' (cream) - masses of rich cream flowers with greenish buds

Spencer straight colours
Strong growers that are also good in containers

• ‘Air Warden' - prolific, bright scarlet-cerise flowers
• ‘Beaujolais' - large flowered deep burgundy colour, one of the darkest. Well scented
• ‘Blue Velvet' - long stems with rich deep blue flowers. Well scented
• ‘Leamington' - large deep lavender flowers on long stems. Strong scent
• ‘Mrs R Bolton' - strong soft pink with large flowers. Well scented
• ‘Princess Elizabeth' - salmon pink flowers over a cream petal. Well scented
• ‘Swan Lake' - pure white - one of the best. Good scent and stem length
• ‘Winston Churchill' - crimson flowers with well waved petals. Good grower

Premium range

Spencer types bred mainly for the show bench. Available with bigger floweras and longer stems, often in excess of 15 inches.

• ‘Gwndoline' - large-flowered, bright rose and white flowers, with a strong scent. One of the very best.
• ‘Charlie's Angel' - exceptionally pale blue, well ruffled flowers
• ‘Royal Wedding' - large pure white flowers on long stems, reliable, well scented
• ‘Jilly' - yellow buds open to a pale cream white, well scented, strong grower

A highlight this year is the ‘Help for Heroes' mix which is a sweet pea mixture with a very special mission. It was created to support the Help for Heroes charity appeal, which strives to make a real difference to the lives of servicemen and women wounded in Britain's current conflicts. The colours signify the three armed forces. Light blue represents the Royal Air Force, dark blue the Navy and red the Army. Look for them in store.

• Remove all dead plant residues and decide which plants need pruning.
• Divide pond plants and get rampant varieties back under control.
• Which plants might you want to add? Plant new plants in baskets with fresh pond soil.
• Give the plants special water plant fertiliser granules by the roots in the soil as you plant.
• Also think about feeding your existing plants: there are special water plant food pellets which help the plants thrive.
• Turn the pump back on and examine your pond.
• If you do not have a pond in your garden yet, and you've got space, then now is the time to build one!

• After pruning Buxus give special buxus fertiliser with magnesium and trace elements immediately.
• This is your last chance to prune the roses. It should really have been done in March.
• Also prune your false acacia (Robinia pseudoacacia ‘Umbraculifera') or Indian bean tree (Catalpa bignonioides ‘Nana').
• Shrubs which do not flower until after the longest day (21 June) can be pruned now. This includes varieties such as Buddleia davidii, Ceanothus and Hypericum.
• Shrubs which flower from buds which formed during the previous season should only be pruned when they have finished flowering.
• You can now mow the lawn every week. Mow an ornamental lawn to two centimetres and a play lawn to three centimetres.
• If your lawn is not enclosed by hard surfaces, the edges will grow irregularly. Restore the shape by edging the lawn neatly again.

• Evergreen shrubs are replanted later than the deciduous varieties because many evergreens are not fully winter-hardy. This is less important if they are pot-grown, but many evergreens are also sold ‘with rootball in sacking'.
• Perennials may have pushed themselves up above the soil on their roots. They are standing on ‘islands'. Replant them to the right depth.
• Birches are famous for being difficult to (re)plant. This is the best time to do it.
• You can now sow plenty of kitchen herbs (as well as vegetables like carrots).
• Beware of night frost! Protect plants which are sensitive and possibly already flowering with garden fleece if a night frost is forecast.

• Remove all dead and withered plant residues from your plants. All the waste can go in the compost bin.
• It's best to put in supports now for perennials which will grow tall.
• Lots of annuals are available to buy - make sure you give them frost protection and keep them watered as temperatures increase as this is when they will start growing well.
• In the meantime, now is a good time to get the pots and troughs ready for planting. Rinse, ensure good drainage and get in supplies of fresh potting soil, water holding crystals and slow release fertilizer.
• If you have not done so yet, now is certainly the time to tidy the garden, clean the patio and the garden furniture.
• It is still an excellent time for sowing a new lawn or restoring a lawn. Now is also an ideal time to aerate. The grass will recover very quickly.
• Rake thoroughly any gravel areas you may have, to stop the first weed growth.
• Flagstones and all sorts of other stepping stones and tiles can become green and slippery during the winter. Turn them over now to get rid of the problem. The green underside will then automatically be cleaned by creatures in the soil, so that you can repeat this trick every year. Otherwise use an environmentally friendly algae cleaner.

Easter Monday Menu