7 jobs to do this week...

Now that spring is officially here, what better excuse is there for a bit of shopping? Garden centres and nurseries are packed with fresh new perennials, many with special offers, so it’s worth taking advantage of these early in the season.
Herbaceous perennials are great value-for-money additions to the garden as they will last for years (particularly if you lift and divide them regularly) and they’ll flower reliably for months. Whatever your site and soil conditions, you’re sure to find a range of perennials to suit your garden.
Buying young perennials to grow on in an unheated greenhouse or cold frame is a cost effective way of increasing your plant stock. Its best to keep your new purchases protected for a few more weeks until the soil warms up and the threat of more winter-like weather has passed.
Instead of buying young perennials, you could buy one or two larger specimens, knock them out of their pots and divide them up to get
several more plants for your money. They’ll soon bulk up again once planted out in the border. Just make sure you know what gaps need plugging in your borders and what would suit your site and soil conditions so that you don’t buy the wrong thing.

Buy perennials to grow on
and fill borders with colour

Lupins: Tall spires of sturdy flowers in a palette of ice-cream colours make these invaluable perennials for the middle or back of a mixed border.

Geraniums:  Among the easiest perennials to grow, hardy geraniums seem to suit almost any garden and will flower reliably throughout summer.

Penstemons: Perfect for plugging gaps in the border, penstemons provide useful late summer colour. Plant in a sunny spot for the best flower display. 

Aquilegia:  A pretty cottage garden favourite, commonly known as columbine. A useful perennial for dappled shade and heavier soil.

Give houseplants more room to grow

Houseplants should be repotted every other year, in spring, increasing the pot size by 3cm to 5cm (1-2in) every time. Remember to water your plant first, to make it easier to get out of its old pot. Fill the bottom of your new pot with a few crocks or bits of polystyrene for drainage and then quarter fill with compost. Multi-purpose, houseplant or loam-based ones are suitable for most houseplants.
Sit the plant on top of the compost then firm in more compost all around the rootball, leaving a 2.5cm (1in) gap below the rim of the pot. Water in well and feed
in a few weeks’ time once fresh, new growth has started to appear.

Mulch shrubs while you can

Clear any garden debris left over from winter and mulch shrubs now while you can still get to them. A thick layer of mulch will retain moisture in the soil and insulate shrubs from cold weather and any frost still to come. Use home-made compost, bark chips, well-rotted manure or cocoa shells as a mulch, or for small areas something more decorative such as gravel or coloured chippings. Before spreading mulch, make sure the soil is weed-free and moist. Water the soil if necessary then spread your mulch about 5cm (2in) deep around shrubs, leaving a small gap around stems. Rake to level mulch out.

Sow some classy ornamental grasses
Ornamental grasses add wonderful texture and movement to the garden, but really need to be planted en masse for the best effect. This can make them expensive to buy, so why not try growing one or two varieties from seed? Miscanthus sinensis is a tall and graceful perennial grass with fine arching leaves and long feathery flower plumes. Sow the fine seed into moist multi-purpose compost and stand in a heated propagator or on a warm windowsill to germinate. Prick out and pot on seedlings when they’re large enough to handle. Gradually harden off young plants before planting out in late May.

Stop weeds taking over your garden
Young weeds  are growing fast, so tackle them before they take over. On bare ground, use a strong hoe that will clear even large areas of tough weeds quickly. To target small weeds  without damaging established plants, use a narrow Dutch hoe or a swoe (sideways hoe). Use a hand fork to prise up buttercups or a border fork for deep-rooted weeds such as alkanet or dandelions. Pull up groundsel and shepherd’s purse.

Cut back new hedges to shape
It may seem mad to cut a hedge when all you really want is for it to grow. But pruning out the strong leader shoots of hedging plants makes sure they bush out from the base and results in a well-branched, full hedge. On shrubby hedges with a loose shape such as laurel, cut to the right height by using a yardstick. On a small-leaved hedge, such as yew or privet, use canes and string to keep the top of the hedge level.

Layer shrubs to make more plants
Climbers and plants with long whippy growth such as jasmine, dogwoods and ivy are particularly easy to propagate by serpentine layering. Prepare the soil along the line where you plan to root the stem. Remove the leaves and wound the stem along its length below every fourth or fifth leaf node. Bend the stem and secure the wounded sections beneath the soil using metal pegs or heavy stones. Cover the buried sections with cuttings compost and keep moist. Leave undisturbed for a year until plants have rooted, then separate and pot on.

For everything you need to know about the garden in spring read Garden News every week. To find out what's in this week's each click here