Gardening Tips Your fortnightly gardening tips for indoors and outdoors

Flowers, Shrubs and Trees.
Plant lily bulbs in well-drained soil or tubs.  Plant trees, shrubs, and roses when ground is not frozen or waterlogged.  Protect vulnerable plants like hebes if frost is expected.  Ensure stakes and ties on trees and climbers are firm against the wind.   Order summer bulbs like gladioli for spring planting.  Spray deciduous trees and shrubs with tar oil wash.  Firm down roots of plants lifted by frost.  Order alpine plants and pinks for spring planting.  Keep dividing herbaceous plants when weather permits.  Order vegetable seeds and seed potatoes.  Apply a potash-based fertilizer to soft fruit.  Sow broad beans and lettuces under cloches.  Plant rhubarb crowns and cover with manure.  Apply a nitrogen-based fertilizer to fruit trees grown in grass.  Keep house-plants in light.  Keep compost slightly moist, make early sowings of alpine strawberries, onions and cauliflowers for planting out in April, sow sweet pea seeds.  Check pelargonium cuttings and throw out failures.   Bring in more bowls of bulbs from outdoors to force for the house.

Beds and borders usually represent the main decorative planting in a garden.  In an easy-care garden, however, the total area given over to beds and borders may well have to be less than in a conventional garden to reduce maintenance.  It is particularly important, therefore, that any beds and borders created are well planned and planted so that the best possible decorative effect can be achieved throughout the year.   Concentrate the main planting in one or two main beds or borders, these will allow greater scope for planting, will look more imposing and will be easier to maintain than a large number of smaller ones.