1 Plant out or containerise your chitted potatoes now for crops of new potatoes from late June onwards. Chit some more for later plantings in May and June. Sow the first row of dwarf French beans under a cloche now and follow this with successional sowings until early July in open ground. A row of carrots can be sown now but remember to cover the row with fleece from May onwards to protect them from carrot root fly.

2 Buy another blueberry bush now to go with the one you already have – although they do not need two plants for pollination, it will help to increase the yield from each plant. Mulch all fruit trees, canes and bushes with well-rooted animal manures now to help preserve moisture for the summer and apply a general fertiliser as well to ensure that they have sufficient nutrients to produce a good crop.

JOB OF THE WEEK

1 Search for summer – summer flowering bulbs, corms and tubers are now readily available in garden centres and they add such a nice surprise element to the summer garden that the opportunity should not be missed. Look out for alliums, begonias, crocosmias, acidantheras, dahlias, cannas, gladioli, liliums, nerines and many more. Read instructions carefully before potting up or planting.