by Terriesa Torode 

Welcome to your Spring gardening advice for 2026. As we slowly emerge after the cold wet winter, plants have been pushing up everywhere and spring flowers now lift our spirits with their cheerful colours and shapes appearing in gardens, hedgerows and fields. 

Look out for Anemone blanda, a shy wood anemone but with patience can spread over an area in shade, like crocuses, snowdrops and Chionodoxas. Above these little gems, shrubs are bursting open with their flowers like the Salix caprea with its fluffy yellow catkins. Bees love these often smothering themselves in the pollen. 

Forsythias reveal bright yellow flowers on sturdy stems, Chaenomeles (Japanese Quince) open cup shaped flowers in white, pink, red and peach. Amongst these beautiful shrubs and bulbs our perennials add to the whole spring show. Delightful Primulas, Doronicum and Pulmonarias (Lungwort) all flower in pinks, purples and yellow daisy like flowers from the Doronicums. These all add drama, fragrance and hope for the summer so enjoy these gems in March in your gardens. 

• Shrubs
  Hopefully you pruned your late summer flowering shrubs and now you are seeing fresh new buds. You can still lift and transplant most shrubs but do not lift evergreen shrubs until May/June. This is useful if you have noticed a shrub growing maybe too well for its position or the shrub is struggling and maybe the soil gets too wet or dry.Decide where you are going to actually move the shrub to, prepare the ground beforehand by digging a large circle that will accommodate the root ball. Add plenty of organic material like compost and a handful of slow-release fertiliser. Carefully lift the shrub by digging around its roots. Try to look how far the branches are going out, this will help you to understand just how large a hole you will have to dig. It’s usually a lot further out than one thinks.Once transplanted, gently water for the next six weeks. It does not matter if the ground is wet or it rains, just water the shrub so the roots receive water deep down in its new hole. After that the plant should settle in quickly and no watering is needed.Prune Dogwoods and Willows now this month. Cut down to a few inches high and from these cuts new brightly coloured stems will be made this year. Prune late flowering Buddleias by pruning down to healthy leaves roughly a foot from the base. This will produce strong healthy stems and many flowers later in summer. Prune Hydrangeas to healthy buds or leaves below depending on the size of your hydrangeas. Cut out old dead wood of all shrubs. Fuchsias growing outside can also be pruned and even shrubby Eucalyptus if in a sheltered position.

  Remember that nearly all spring flowered shrubs can be pruned after flowering so those that are flowering in the next couple of months should be pruned after all flowers have died. Prune out these flowered shoots so new young shoots can grow this year and flower next spring. Always use clean and sharpened tools when pruning and spray with disinfectant as you work.

• Perennials
  Clear away old dying leaves and old stalks from perennials planted in the garden. Add supports for those plants that will need it now before they grow too tall. Remove perennials that are taking over a flower bed and either give them more space or throw away most of the plant and save a piece of the plant to replant. 

  Think of your colours in the bed, is a combination annoying you by clashing? If so before everything is soft and new in your flower bed, dig these perennials up and organise the bed to a more harmonious combination. We often buy plants like perennials and just plant them out wherever we can but over time our flower beds can become disorganised and not flowing how we imagine them to be.So, photograph the whole bed, sit inside and with a piece of paper in hand create the colours you want and see which perennials could be moved to create that beautiful flower bed you imagine. Fertilise the whole bed and it’s not too late if you did not mulch, mulch now over entire flower bed.

  Many new shoots appear at this time of the year and it’s a really great way to expand some of your favorite perennials by taking basal cuttings. When shoots are around 8-10 cm (3-4 inches) use a sharp knife and cut the new shoot as near to the plant as possible. Place inside a pot that has compost and perlite mixed in with it and label, place a plastic bag over the top and place in a sunny windowsill. In a few weeks’ time you will have new plants and you can increase perennials like Delphiniums, Gypsophilas and Lupins.

  Protect your Hostas now. Either use Vitex Slug Gone which uses sheep’s wool. It irritates the slugs and snails and the added benefit is it also contains fertilser. Use copper bands around pots if growing this way. You can place slug traps or use a fine grit around the plants but just a reminder to start now.

• Vegetables
  This is now the busiest time of the year for all vegetable growers. Try something tropical or a different variety of a vegetable that you grow well.For seasoned gardeners try something new this year. Try growing seeds a different way like using the moons phase, when it’s waxing always sow but if waning, do not try. I tried this way many years ago and recorded my discoveries and found that seeds germinate readily when the moon is waxing so now, I check the moon phase and then sow. For new gardeners always use fresh new compost. Sieve compost every time you are going to sow seeds. Afterwards add plenty of perlite to the compost and fill up clean trays and pots with compost mixture. Tampen down and water very gently under the tray or pot from the base not above. Then follow instructions on packet for each vegetable. Sow every two weeks for a continuous supply of vegetables except maincrop. Chit first earlies now if not already done so. 

  Always use labels, provide heat if needed and then a hardening off area for the young seedlings to get established and strong. Cold frames are ideal hardening off structures. Maybe you could make your own, it needs four walls, a base and a window placed on top. This prevents frost and cold temperatures killing off your seedlings. I use the polytunnel with old racks in it and place fleece over seedlings every night and lift fleece in the morning. This is important so think ahead and save money and time. 

  Make sure vegetable plot is ready for sowing and transplanting. Tidy up old vegetables still in bed as some vegetables will be either perennial, bi-ennial or being grown for your own seed. Remove yellow leaves off spring cabbage and any brassicas in the beds. Always follow a four-rotation system. 

  Clean any equipment to be used and go through everything like fleece and canes and netting ensuring all is ready. Have plastic or fleece in place over vegetable plot to warm up and possibly dry out so its perfect for your young seedlings. Start hoeing between rows of established plants and organise the growing areas so you know which bed is having which crops this year.

• Bulbs
  Enjoy these now. Plant up summer bulbs. Deadhead all Daffodils and Narcissus, Tulips and sprinkle fertilser around their bases. Plant out Snowdrops still in the green in groups of four or five in natural groups. Bulbs that were forced for Christmas can be planted outside in a wild area; these will take a few years to perk up again.
• Fruit
  Hopefully you all pruned your fruit trees this winter and all of your fruit bushes. Mulched and fertilsed in autumn and again now spread the same two down for flowering and fruit production. Use potash for this.Cover Peaches and Nectarines with fleece against frost damage. Hand pollinate the flowers. Get your spray ready for your apple trees if they have scab. Spray as soon as you see the white showing of the flowers. Net fruit bushes as Bullfinches enjoy eating the buds. Tie in Blackberries and Loganberries as these grow very quickly onto their wire supports. Prune down autumn fruiting raspberries, then these delicious fruiting plants will grow new stems that will produce fruit this autumn. If you did not prune 

  your Gooseberries in winter then prune these now. Prune all side shoots to two or three buds. All leading shoots prune around a third to one half of the stem, if a shoot is weak go half if strong one third. Get all bareroot trees in now. Add lots of compost, well-rotted manure and a handful of slow-release fertiliser. Cover a few strawberry plants with a cloche for early fruits. Pot up runners from last year. 

• Glasshouses
  Next month clean all glass and gutters and ensure inside is clean too if not already done so. Pot up all tender plants and begin watering them weekly. Water and feed Hippeastrum until leaves turn yellow, feed with a high potash fertilser.Sow Aubergines, Tomatoes and other warmer requiring vegetables. Start your Cannas and Dahlias and even Begonias inside glasshouse. Pot up Pelargoniums and prick out all seeds regularly sown inside. This can also be your cold frame by bringing inside tender seedlings for hardening off. Sow half-hardy annuals indoors now. These are a great way to adding plenty of colour in your borders and these plants often grow so quickly that in no time you will be delighted to see the results. 

Happy gardening folks!