The days are getting longer and warmer now, so it's time to up tools and prepare for the year ahead in your fruit and vegetable garden.
Start sowing seed outdoors: In mild areas you can sow carrots, parsnips, beetroot, lettuces, radish, peas, spinach and leeks outdoors, but protect with fleece or polythene if cold weather is forecast.
Start sowing tomatoes: Use a heated propagator or warm room at 21°C (70°F) to encourage germination, and then keep them potted on at a lower temperature of 15-18°C (60-65°F).
Feed spring cabbages: Feed cabbages that have been standing all winter with a high nitrogen feed such as Growmore or pelleted poultry manure.
Apply mulch: Apply a mulch of mushroom compost or well-rotted manure to the base of fruit trees and bushes to conserve moisture and keep weeds down.
Start regular weeding: Keep annual weeds under control by hoeing. Deal with perennial weeds as appropriate, either digging them out or using a weedkiller.
Protect fruit blossom from frost: Protect with horticultural fleece, but make sure insects can access the flowers or else hand pollinate the.