Don’t let lack of space prevent you from growing some of your own food. Even a window box on a balcony can be productive, providing you with herbs and young salad leaves. Old compost sacks make good containers for raising potatoes and small varieties of carrots, beetroot and other root vegetables can be grown in pots.

Growing veg on this scale won’t make you self sufficient, but it will give you a taste of food that’s unmatched for freshness by anything you can buy in a supermarket.

The key to making it work is to keep sowing seed - a sunny windowsill will do - so that you have a continuous supply of young plants to replace those that are harvested.

Look out for textile planting pockets that can be hung from railings or attached to walls as these will create planting space on vertical surfaces. Just remember to water these at least once a day, and to add liquid feed as both moisture and nutrients will be lost quickly.

 

TOP TIP

Perennials are starting to grow rapidly so stake tall and floppy varieties now before they put on any more growth. Use prunings from willows and dogwoods, pushing these into the ground around the plants and using soft twine to tie in the young stems. The supports may stand out now but they will soon disappear beneath the fresh growth.

Scottish Gardener:

 

WHAT TO DO NOW

  • Sow pumpkin seed in small pots indoor, placing the seeds on their sides to prevent them from rotting when sitting in damp compost.
  • Remove dead flower heads from tulips and daffodils to direct energy back into the bulbs and not into seed production.
  • Clear away winter bedding and spread home made compost on the bare soil.
  • Check for aphids, slugs and snails and take steps to control them before numbers increase.
  • Increase watering of houseplants and start applying liquid feed.
  • Tie in new growth on rambling and climbing roses, setting the branches as close to horizontal as possible in order to promote increased flower production.
  • Hoe off annual weeds as they appear and dig out perennial weeds to prevent them from spreading.
  • Take cuttings from dahlias started off in early spring, inserting them into free draining compost and placing in a heated propagator until roots have formed.
  • Sow seed of carrots, lettuce, peas and beetroot outdoors.
  • Prepare the ground for hardy annuals, working the soil to a fine tilth and marking out sowing drills with a stick.
  • Lift and divide perennials, discarding any old and non-productive roots and replanting young sections in soil that’s been improved by the addition of organic material.
  • Prune winter flowering shrubs including Forsythia and Flowering Currant.
  • Start cutting lawns with lawnmower blades on the highest setting. With a long, slim knife sever the roots of daisies and dandelions.
  • Open greenhouse doors and vents on mild days to prevent seedlings from overheating.
  • Use a wire brush to remove weeds and moss from between paving slabs.