By the end of the week it will officially by March and that means Spring is upon us. Hopefully the beginning of Spring will mean a return to more sane weather, milder temperatures and more opportunities to work on and enjoy your garden. Because we are entering a new season, this means there are tasks that need seeing to in order to ensure your plants flower and everything is orderly. Here we have selected they key tasks you should be doing to get your garden ready for the sunshine and delights brought by spring.

1) Turn compost heap over
If you have a compost heap it’s time to stir things up a bit. The best compost which is well rotted and nutrient rich will now be right at the bottom and fresh composting ingredients will be at the top as they haven’t had chance to decompose. Take a fork and dig as far down to the bottom of your heap as possible dragging mature compost to the top and mixing the new ingredients into the lower levels. This way the best compost will be accessible when you’re ready to spread it on the beds.

2) Cut back perennials and shrubs
By March your winter perennials will be dead and the stems need clearing to make way for bulbs. Don’t be scared of raking these away as many are self seeding and will return in autumn. Once you have gathered the rotting stems, these can be easily composted. Some woody perennial flowers shouldn’t be removed but simple pruned each spring to encourage growth, these include hellebores, buddleia and lavender.

3) Plant late summer flowers
The end of February is the perfect time to plant sweet peas. This will give them enough time to germinate and grow before their season. You should sow them in pots which you can leave in conservatories or greenhouses or plant them somewhere sheltered and make sure you have support canes or a trellis for them to grow against. If you are impatient to get planting now is fine to sew hedging plants such as leylandii, laurel and hydrangea.

4) Wash out your bird feeders and boxes
Because nesting season is about to start now is a busy time for wildlife. Start by taking down all your bird feeders and washing them out with hot water and some gentle detergent such as washing up liquid- this will stop bacteria growing as the temperatures rise. If it is possible, you should also clean out your bird boxes with some warm water to remove bacteria that could lead to disease. If you don’t have many bird boxes, think about adding more to provide places for birds to nest.

5) Set out your furniture

The return of sunshine also means the return of garden furniture so you can relax outside. Firstly, take a pressure washer to your patio to ensure it’s clean. When you get your garden furniture out of the shed or garage, give it a good wipe down as they’ve probably collected some cobwebs over the cold months. If your table and chairs are looking worse for wear or are faded, why not update them with some fashionable outdoor furniture from Verdon Grey? Some of our ranges come with garden seat cushions for extra comfort or you can buy them as optional extras.

So now that the seasons are slowly but surely transforming, we should start to maintain our garden to help it flourish. Once you’ve finished a hard day’s gardening, there’s nothing like relaxing on the patio to admire your handy work.