The bulbs are starting to pop out and it’s the time of year when, despite the inevitable cold snaps that will pepper the next month or two, we start to think about the arrival of spring. So what’s on your spring to-do list?

We've hopefully seen the worst of the winter weather, so there’s plenty you can be getting on with now in terms of planting, pruning and preparation for spring.

Early Spring Gardening Jobs

1. Plant summer bulbs. If it’s a particularly wet one and the ground is a bit boggy, plant bulbs in pots and containers instead. Good ones for early Spring include lilies, agapanthus and nerines – fantastic scent in late summer.
2. Pruning. Prune winter-blooming shrubs like winter jasmine and heathers - once they've finished flowering. It's also a good time to prune Roses, Buddleia, Cornus, Hydrangea and last chance to prune your wisteria.
3. Prepare your veg plot. It's important to fully prepare your vegetable plot for the spring time and now's a great time to do it. Dig the soil and mixing in organic material will break up the soil, ensuring it is not compacted.
   Rake the soil through, particularly if it's been a wet winter - the more you do this, the better it will be for growing.
4. Potted herbs. Herbs are great for any size of space even if you only have a balcony or a window sill. Perfect for pots, they're great for early spring planting, particularly more hardy herbs such as rosemary, bay, thyme and sage. Others can also be planted indoors for transfer to outdoor pots as the weather warms up.
5. Bedding Plants. If you've got a frost-free heated greenhouse, shed or conservatory, then bedding plants are also great to be getting on with now – ideal for the preparation of your Spring hanging baskets.
6. Have a tidy up. Aside from planting, it's a good time to do a bit of a tidy up, with some pruning, potting and dividing up of plants for new spring growth:
7. Pot up containers with hardy spring bedding, such as primroses, bellis and forget-me-nots. You'll find these appearing in pots and beds now anyway, and you can divide them and spread them out to give them more room for Spring growth.
8. Divide congested clumps of herbaceous perennials and grasses and spread them out a bit for lots of new growth in the Spring. You can also divide up clumps of snowdrops quite successfully after flowering.

Notcutts Garden Centre has absolutely everything you need for Spring gardening, and their dedicated and hugely knowledgable staff are on hand to give you the best advice for your particular garden.

This weekend, it’s the RSPB’s annual Big Garden Bird Watch. Everyone in the UK can join in by signing up on the RSPB website and spending an hour between 29 and 31 January noting down the types of birds that visit your garden. If you want to encourage more birdlife into your space, we have everything you need.

As we move towards the spring months, it's a great time to look at your garden - not just from a human perspective, but also from a bird's eye view and help our dwindling birdlife thrive and survive... (more…)