Seeds

Once you have cleared your garden, you can start preparing designated areas for vegetables, annuals or new perennial and shrub planting. Creating a fine tilth in your vegetable beds will set you up for the first seed rows to plant at the end of this month. You can get ahead of the game by bringing on seeds in your greenhouse or lean-to: Ammi major, Marigolds and Cerinthe major as well as runner beans, french beans, carrots, beetroot and spinach. If you have a frost free warm pocket in your garden you can start to chit potatoes ready for planting out early. If you experienced a lot of blight recently, try the Sarpo varieties.

Hardy plants like kale can even be sown directly into the soil now.

As well as seeds, clumps of snowdrop bulbs can be divided after flowering to help multiply your collection and summer/autumn flowering bulbs like Gladioli, Nerines and Dahlias can be ordered online now, or bought from a nursery. You can also force Rhubarb now.

Protection

Fruit trees can be protected with cloche to keep the frost away from tender blossoms. Your soil can be kept moist and considerably weed free this year by applying a thick bark mulch (not too thick that your bulbs can’t emerge) and tender seeds can be covered with horticultural fleece to keep them warmer.

Wakehurst garden launched it’s Winter Garden two years ago with 33,000 plants in unusual bold combinations, so if you need some late winter inspiration that’s the place to visit. You will need to book a time slot ticket and it is open from 10-4pm. Arundel Castle will have its usual large Tulip display in March/April.