WITH the light now lasting well into the evenings, daffodils, buds swelling, spring is with us at last.

With the lateness of the season, many jobs in the garden that would normally be undertaken in March will have to be tackled now, so April is going to be a busy month.

You can still have plenty of colour in your garden from the early spring flowering bedding plants such as primroses, polyanthus, viola and pansy. They are all hardy and can really give a great splash of colour when put in containers near your front door.

Keep them looking good by dead-heading the old flowers to encourage fresh flowers.

A controlled-release fertiliser can be added to existing pots to give them a well-deserved feed when the weather warms up.

Seeds sales are reported to be only half what they were last year, but it is not too late to sow nearly all the vegetable range and most flowers as well.

For those not wishing to wait, young vegetable plants are on sale now and popular basket plants are also available.

Grafted vegetables have become popular dand are great value for money. They have been created to be more resistant against pests and diseases and to produce more fruit. In fact, it is stated that some of the tomato plants can produce up to 75 per cent more fruit!

The nursery staff at Suttons Seeds produce these super plants by growing two plants simultaneously; a tasty fruiting variety and a super strong root stock. The tops of the fruiting variety and the super strong root stock are carefully and skilfully removed using a blade to cut through each stem. The top of the fruiting variety is then grafted to the rootstock using a clip which drops off as the plant grows.

Grafted vegetables are excellent if you only have a small garden as some varieties can be grown outside.

We always think that if you can grow a good crop of tomatoes outside in Bury, then we’ve had a good summer!

Looking at lawns in our area, it is clear that many are going to need work on them to get them back into shape.

All last summer they were sodden and with poor sunlight, it was perfect for moss to become established.

We have now had persistent frosts which will kill off young, early growth of the less tougher strains of grass.

A programme of repair is needed, but at present it’s best to do nothing more than give them a light scarifying.

Be careful not to spread any moss by raking the mossy areas on to themselves and then collect the debris. You can spread moss by dragging it across good grass.

Follow this with a light aeration using a spiking tool, fork or core remover.

Weather never fails to be the major talking point between gardeners and the cold during March has certainly delayed everything.