Start With the Soil, Not the Seeds

It is tempting to rush straight to the seed packets in March, but the most productive growing seasons begin underground. After a wet UK winter, beds can be compacted and nutrients leached away, so give the soil a proper pick-me-up before anything goes in. Fork over the top 20cm of beds, removing stones and perennial weed roots as you go, but do not dig too deep — you will only disturb the worm activity and fungal networks that took all winter to establish.

Once the surface is crumbly, spread a 5cm layer of well-rotted manure or garden compost over the beds and let the worms pull it down. If your soil is heavy clay, add grit alongside the organic matter to improve drainage; if it is light and sandy, the compost alone will help it hold moisture. A gentle sprinkle of blood, fish and bone at roughly a handful per square metre gives hungry crops like brassicas and courgettes a head start. For pots and raised beds, replace the top third of the compost each spring — spent compost loses its structure and can harbour vine weevil larvae.

Sow Hardy Seeds and Get Ahead Indoors

Hardy vegetables can go in direct once the soil has warmed a little and the worst of the frost has passed. Broad beans, peas, spinach, rocket, radish and early carrots all cope with a cool start, and a cloche or fleece tunnel will bring them on by a fortnight. Sow in short rows rather than one long one, so a washout or a slug attack does not wipe out the whole crop at once. Salad leaves and radishes are ideal for successional sowing — a small pinch every three weeks gives you a steady supply rather than a glut in June.

Under cover, tomatoes, peppers, aubergines, courgettes and squash need a long season, so start them indoors in late March or early April. Use clean seed compost, keep the trays at around 18–21°C for germination, then move seedlings to a bright windowsill or greenhouse once they are up. Leggy, pale seedlings are almost always a sign of too little light rather than too little heat. Harden them off gradually over a week or two before planting out, and do not be fooled by a warm spell in April — a late frost will undo weeks of effort.

Prune Shrubs That Flower on New Wood

Early spring is the moment to cut back the shrubs that bloom on growth made in the same season. Buddleja, hardy fuchsia, cornus, cotinus and the late-flowering clematis group all respond well to a hard prune now. Cut buddleja back to a low framework of permanent branches, roughly 60–90cm from the ground, and remove any spindly or crossing stems. For dogwoods grown for their winter stems, cut the whole plant down to 15–20cm to force fresh, brightly coloured growth for next year.

• Take out dead, damaged and diseased wood first, cutting back to healthy growth.
• Remove one in three of the oldest stems at the base on mature shrubs to keep them young.
• Give roses a feed and a mulch straight after pruning; they are heavy feeders and repay it well.
• Hold off on pruning spring-flowering shrubs such as forsythia and lilac until after they have flowered.

Always use sharp, clean secateurs and loppers, and make your cut just above an outward-facing bud. A slanted cut lets rain run off rather than sitting on the wound.

Weed Early, Mulch Generously

Weeds are easiest to beat in April, when the soil is moist and the roots come away cleanly. Hoe on a dry, sunny morning and let the seedlings wither on the surface, or hand-weed around emerging crops before they are big enough to compete. Annual weeds are a nuisance, but perennials like ground elder, bindweed and couch grass need every scrap of root removing, or they will simply regenerate.

Once the beds are clean, mulch with a 5–7cm layer of bark, composted green waste or leafmould. Mulch locks in moisture, suppresses the next flush of weeds and slowly feeds the soil as it breaks down. Keep it a hand's width clear of stems and trunks to avoid rot and to discourage slugs from using it as a bridge.

Look After Lawns, Containers and Wildlife

Lawns wake up properly in spring. Rake out dead moss and thatch, aerate compacted areas with a fork, then overseed thin patches with a suitable mix. A spring feed with a balanced fertiliser will green things up, but do not cut too short — keeping the blades at around 4cm helps the grass cope with dry spells later in the year.

Containers dry out fast, so refresh the compost, check drainage holes are clear and start a weak liquid feed once plants are actively growing. Set up a water butt if you can, and group pots together to reduce evaporation. Finally, leave a little wildness: a patch of long grass, a shallow dish of water and a few native flowers will bring in the bees, hoverflies and hedgehogs that do so much of the pest control for you. Get these foundations right now, and the rest of the growing season tends to look after itself.