Ha, how things have changed, bearing in mind we have just had gales, snow, floods depending which part of the country you are in. Here in the Channel Islands we caught it relatively badly and even some of our early potato fields got flooded with sea water. The problem was not the water because that drained away pretty quickly (our soils are mainly light and free draining) but the salt deposited. This can have a major impact on seedling emergence as young roots and shoots will be burnt due to the salt concentration (or high conductivity, which can involve other chemical salts and not just sodium chloride). If you are growing annual crops in glasshouse soil and are getting dark leaved, stunted plants you need to consider flooding the soil to wash (leach) the salts out.

This year the winter rains will have certainly washed away a lot of the residual nutrients so use a general fertiliser but without too much nitrogen, however the standard advice for feeding lawns is to give them a high nitrogen feed at the end of April. Long term readers will know my thoughts on this!

Right enough of the science lecture you are still not safe from frosts in April and tender plants should be protected with either Hessian, bubble wrap or fleece. Do not use polythene, it can make matters worse!

Shrubs need pruning to keep them in hand and to stimulate new growth and is a job which can be done even if the soil in the garden is saturated, preventing hoeing, mowing or dare I say it digging. However if the soil is really bad consider using planks to walk on or if the weather continues like it is at the time of writing, pick up a good book, light a fire (or turn the heating up), make a cup of your favourite brew and put your feet up.

And when you can get out dead head daffodils and have a go at the winter pansies to keep them flowering. When the risk of frost has passed, start planting out your annuals.

Now we have mentioned planting, if you want a wildlife friendly garden the following will provide food and shelter for a range of insects, including butterflies; alyssum, aster, aubrietia, bedding dahlias, buddleia, candytuft, catmint, common fleabane, daisy, field scabious, forget-me-not, French marigold, honesty, ivy, knapweed, laurel, lobelia, lavender, lilac, marigolds, marjoram, michaelmas daisy, mint, phlox, polyanthus, primrose, privet, red valerian, stocks, sweet rocket, sweet William, verbena, wallflower and zinnia. A suggested mix would include the verbena, lobelia, lavender and of course buddleia, the butterfly bush.

Good quality plants, including bedding, can be bought in a wide range of containers. Remember the smaller the volume of compost these contain the more looking after they need. They dry out quicker so need regular and careful watering. If you cannot plant out when you want you may need to feed as well. Bedding will need hardening off ready for planting out.

In May ……You’ll have to wait ‘til next time.