BORDERLINE!

If you try and ensure your garden borders are tidy and well weeded now, before the growth surge in April, you'll avoid playing catch up in summer.

Start by cutting down the stems of all hardy perennials that you left over the winter, and provided soil is not saturated clean up any weeds.

Sprinkle a general fertiliser such as organic blood, fish and bone around the roots of border plants and hedging plants. Top dress borders with a thick mulch of peat-free soil conditioner or shredded bark to help retain mositure in the summer and inhibit the growth of weeds.

Got a gap? There's some great new plants arriving in garden centres like St bridget Nurseries at the moment so why not enjoy the sunshine, stroll around the centre have a tea break and then buy a few new plants for those gaps?