Weekend work

Primroses and polyanthus need splitting and replanting in fresh ground. Annuals grown in seed trays are waiting to be planted out and seed of several failed vegetables must be sown again. Plant out tomatoes, once all danger of frost has passed. If the weather continues dry, sink a flower pot by the side of each tomato when it has been planted out and pour water directly into the pot, which will funnel it where it is most needed.

Pinch out the tops of broad beans when they have set sufficient pods . This makes them marginally less attractive to blackfly. Pinch out flower buds from chives to increase leaf production. Later on, you can give them their heads.

Prune spring flowering shrubs such as flowering currants and spiraea when they have finished flowering.

Flowering currants can be dealt with on the one in three principle. Take out a third of the old wood at ground level, so that within three years you have renewed the whole bush. Flowering is better on young vigorous growth than on old. Spiraeas can be thinned out in a similar manner, though they can be left unpruned more easily than flowering currants.