Weekend Work: Time to catch up with pruning

What to do

Catch up with pruning, before new growth gets underway. Buddleia should have been tackled last month. If not, do it now – cut all growths back to within a few inches of the old wood.

Cut out any branches of abelia that have died back or been damaged over winter. Make the cut just above a new green shoot.

If you want to grow eucalyptus as a bush rather than a tree, cut back all the growths to ground level now – it'll then produce rounded, juvenile foliage.

Sow sweet peas, setting five seeds to a 8cm/3in pot. No need to soak or scarify.

Plant out forget-me-nots and fat Bellis perennis , now available at garden centres. They don't mind the cold but may need watering.

Repot indoor plants, such as ferns, Asparagus sprengeri, aspidistras, crotons, begonias, setting them in pots just one size larger than their previous ones. Water the plants to settle them in.

What to buy

RE (think REcycled, REscued, REstored) sells green-fingered stuff – vintage plant pots (from £4), old watering cans (from £45), and decorative shelf edging (£20/100cm) – from Bishop's Yard, Main Street, Corbridge, Northumberland NE45 5LA, 01434 634567, or visit re-foundobjects.com