Despite the weather, this is a busy time in the gardening calendar and here are some things you should be doing to get ready for spring:

Get your greenhouse ready

Best practice is to take everything out from last year and wash the windows with detergent and fumigate with a sulfur candle. This ensures that the greenhouse is clear of all insect eggs and fungal spores. Also make sure that you don't reuse any compost bags or growbags that you used last year as they could reintroduce insects and fungus back in to the greenhouse.

Tidy up beds and borders

Cut back any dead branches or dead stems. Hoe the soil to remove any weeds that have grown in the mild winter we've had so far and turn over a depth of about 12 inches if possible and mix in a good quality compost.

Clear out your vegetable patch for new planting

The best thing to do is follow the advice above and turn over to a depth of around 12 inches and mix in a compost that's relevant to the types of crop that you want to grow this year ie. potato compost for potatoes and a root vegetable compost for carrots, parnips etc. If when turning over you start to get a backfill of water, you will need to add some sand or grit for drainage. Once the soil is prepared, cover with a black landscape fabric to prevent weed growth.

In the next few weeks we'll be discussing potatoes, tomatoes, spring bulbs and young plants.

When making the decision about what real Christmas tree to buy, here's some

things to think about before you make your choice:

1. Consider how close to a radiator it's going to be because it's central heating that causes them to drop their needles.

If it's going to be too close, you had best avoid a spruce tree as these are much more sensitive to heat and you would have to water them all the time.

Pine trees - either lodgepole or alaskan - are an option as they retain their needles and are relatively inexpensive but don't have as many branches.

Fir trees are the most needle retentive and the best for centrally heated environments. Fraser firs are narrower with a notable citrus scent whilst Nordmans are more robust and much wider trees.

2. Things to check when buying your selected type of tree are:

Rub your hand along the lower branches from stem out and if lots of needles start to fall off, don't buy the tree!

Check the size of the base to make sure it will fit in to the stand.

Check to see if lower branches need to be removed.

Hold the tree upright and make sure it's straight.

Spread out the lower branches to get an idea of how wide the tree is to make sure it's going to fit in the house.

3. How are you getting your tree home?!

In the excitement of buying a tree, sometimes people forget how they're getting it home and have 'gone larger' than plannned. Make sure you've thought about this and, if you need it delivered, organise in advance so you get it when you want it. If you are planning on taking it home, check it fits on or above the car and our staff will try to help you as much as possible.

It seems like only yesterday that we were in the midst of a severe winter and now here we are again, preparing for the first winter frosts.

My top tips to prepare your garden for the coming first frosts are:

1. Put a good bark mulch on your beds and borders.

2. Cut back any perennials that are now brown and withered.

3. Ensure you have enough fleece to cover your more senstive plants during the winter

4. Bring in any plants that prefer to be inside during the winter.

5. Pull out your summer bedding and put in your winter bedding such as winter pansies, violas, ornamental cabbage, sweet william and cyclamen.

Given last winter's weather, this might also be the ideal time to stock up on rock salt and snow shovels before they run out when the bad weathers hits.

As we enter Autumn (my second favourite time of the year) thoughts turn to garden maintenance and hardy plants to take you through the colder months.

To help everyone with this, we have a wide range of garden tidy equipment now in stock - from gloves to hedge trimmers and rakes to garden sacks.

To help give your garden some autumn colour we've got a great range of foliage plants including Japanese Maples, Rhus and Ceratostigma. As well as foliage plants we have some nice autumn flowering plants such as Erica gracilis, Skimmia and Winter Jasmine.

Remember, if you aren't familiar or sure about any of these plants, just come in and ask for me and I'll show you the different autumnal options available.

Hopefully see you soon.