• Weeds are growing madly. Be vigilant at this time of the year and prevent anything going to seed or you will be fighting the successive waves of germinating weeds all summer. While glyphosate or Round Up will kill weeds, this takes a few days to work so you still need to hand pull any weeds with seed heads formed – particularly the bitter cress which pops everywhere and goes from germination to seeding in what seems like days.
• Rejuvenate tired citrus trees at this time by pruning hard, fertilising and mulching. If you prune very hard, you will sacrifice the crop of fruit for the next season or two but you should have a better looking bush or tree. Citrus trees are grafted so do not cut off at ground level because all that will regrow will be the thorny root stock. If you have a problem with borer, cut out the infected branches.
• Evergreen azaleas and most camellias, however, can be cut to ground level if you have ugly old specimens and they will grow again though you are unlikely to get flowers next year. Make sure you feed and mulch any plants you have subjected to extreme decapitation.
• If you want a summer bedding plant display, you should be getting your annuals in now. If you have bought “potted colour” (the larger specimens which are sold in garden centres), removing the current crop of flower buds at time of planting allows the plant to establish better before it puts its energies into a floral display. Deadheading them throughout the season can be tedious but will considerably extend the flowering. The plant’s drive is to set seed and reproduce itself so if you delay that process by preventing it seeding, it will keep on trying by setting more flowers.
• In the vegetable garden, don’t rush planting out if your soil is still cold. It can in fact delay the growth of the seeds and plants whereas if you wait until later in the month, they are more likely to grow away unimpeded. Experienced vegie gardeners learn to judge the optimum times and conditions for getting early crops in but Labour Weekend is traditionally the magic planting time.

Start forcing kumaras by giving them a bit of bottom heat or by putting them in a box with moist straw or sawdust in a warm place to get an accelerated start when you plant them out in a few weeks time.

• Dwarf beans can have their first sowing of the season now.
• Garden centres are full of young tomato plants and in warm areas you can plant them out now in a warm, sunny, sheltered spot.
• Stake broad beans as they will grow very quickly now. The same goes for clematis.
• Roses are all in full growth now so you can fertilise them and mulch them. Those who keep their roses beautiful by applying regular sprays will want to keep a close eye on any signs of black spot, aphids and the multitude of other greeblies and nasties that most roses are susceptible to.
• Mowing the lawn with a mulcher mower improves lawn health, rather than constantly removing the clippings. Farmers know you can not repeatedly cut hay without heavy fertilising and the same principle applies to lawns.
• Give deciduous fruit trees a copper spray as they burst into growth. This is the most important spray of the year for them.

• Sow seeds under cover for summer annuals and summer vegetables such as tomatoes, cucumber and courgettes. The aim is to have them in top condition for planting into the garden around Labour Weekend which will be upon us before you expect.
• Feijoa bushes can be thinned and opened up to encourage them to produce larger fruit next season. Give them a feed at the same time.
• Keep pinching out the flowers on strawberry plants while the clumps build up size and strength, before you let them fruit.
• Dwarf beans can be started in pots now but it is a little early to plant them in the garden yet unless you have a really prime spot.
• Pruning out any dead wood from shrubs such as rhododendrons improves their appearance considerably and pruning tends to be more fun than weeding.
• You can still lift and divide hostas but time is running out as they are in growth. This also means that every slug and snail in the vicinity will be packing their bags and moving in to munch them. Laying a ring of sawdust, sand or grit can act like a barrier and discourage them from sliming across to reach the delectable shoots.
• It is a good time to give your spring bulbs a feed of blood and bone as they finish flowering. This growth period is critical for them to build strength in the bulb for next year’s flowering. If your daffodils have not set flower buds it is either because they are too shaded or they are too congested and need to be divided up for next spring.
• Readers who enjoyed Vicki’s piece on peacocks last week may like to have a look for photos of Isola Madre, the island villa and garden in Lake Maggiore, Northern Italy. They specialize in pure white peacocks (presumably rare albinos) and as they pose on all the substantial stonework, they make possibly the most elegant picture imaginable. Notwithstanding that, sadly peacocks and gardening do not go together at all. Birds of that size do a substantial amount of damage.

• The rule of thumb for pruning is to do it straight after flowering. So pruning daphnes and pinching out luculias now will encourage bushy growth. Daphne odora (the common scented one) and Daphne bholua (the Himalayan one) both benefit from regular pruning to stop them from getting leggy and twiggy. You can be drastic on bholua but it pays to be more conservative with odora. Thinning every year will encourage the plant to put on more attractive, strong, juvenile growth.
• While the weather is dry, you can start the spring round on pesky wandering jew (tradescantia) before it makes its bid for world domination. It is dreadfully invasive. If you decide to hand pull it, you have to remove it altogether or every little bit will grow again where you leave it. Grazon is a heavy duty spray but will knock it for six but you need a follow up spray in a month’s time. Amitrol works well too and is readily available for the home gardener. Don’t waste your time with Round Up on it.
• It is full steam ahead in the vegetable garden preparing beds for planting. Dig them over, add in compost and blood and bone and let them settle for about three weeks before planting.
• Pruning out any dead wood from shrubs such as rhododendrons improves their appearance considerably and pruning tends to be more fun than weeding.
• You can still lift and divide hostas but time is running out as they are in growth. This also means that every slug and snail in the vicinity will be packing their bags and moving in to munch them. Laying a ring of sawdust, sand or grit can act like a barrier and discourage them from sliming across to reach the delectable shoots.
• It is good time to give your spring bulbs a feed of blood and cone as they finish flowering. This growth period is critical for them to build strength in the bulb for next year’s flowering. If your daffodils have not set flower buds it is either because they are too shaded or they are too congested and need to be divided up for next spring.

Spring is indubitably here and Tuesday may have been our last cold snap. The danger of frosts in coastal areas is pretty well over now but inland areas will still need to expect a few.

• Warmer temperatures mean slugs and snails are back on the agenda and munching their way through fresh foliage. Mark is experimenting with flat beer which certainly attracts them but he is worried that it may in fact attract them along to eat the prized plants alongside (in this case tecophilia flowers). Slug bait is not very nice for birds, pets or hedgehogs so if you can find organic controls, so much the better.
• Clumps of dahlias can be lifted and divided now. When tubers get too crowded, they tend to fall apart in growth which rather wrecks the display.
• Groom grasses to remove dead foliage. If the clump is very dense, you can lift it and divide it or dig out some of the growing tips to encourage renewed vigour.
• Spring is the peak growth season for almost all plants so it is the optimum time for applying fertiliser as you see the plants start to grow. More is not better with fertiliser as over feeding can burn the foliage.
• In the vegetable garden, stay on top of the germinating weeds. Pretty well everything can be planted now (though it is too early still for beans). Spinach, silver beet, lettuce, onions, broccoli and peas can all be sown directly into the garden. Caulis and cabbages are generally planted out as small plants rather than from seed which ensures a better survival rate.
• Magnolias are at their peak this week so get out to parks and gardens to admire these aristocrats of flowering trees.