Dancing through the spring garden

That "spring growth spurt" really does exist. Make the most of it!

- Jackie French

Spring is not quite as magic here as it is in parts of the world blanketed by snow, but it still feels charmed, as if we are all slightly drunk on the scent of blossom and new-grown grass, and perhaps we are. We are only just beginning to accept scientifically what gardeners have known for millennia: the scents of soil ready for planting, of trees leafing, of blossom and nesting birds deeply affect our physical and mental state. Things grow in spring — they “spring up”. That is heady, just by itself. In many areas, a plant can make 80 per cent of its yearly growth in spring. Here are 10 things to do in the garden to reap all those springtime rewards.

1. Plant! Spring is the perfect time to plant almost anything that will grow in your climate, now that the soil has warmed up and before the heat, storms or humidity of summer set in. Plant flowers, vegetables, fruit trees, perennials, ornamentals. The only things not to plant now are those that need cold weather to fatten them, like onions, or, in humid areas, that might ripen when summer's humidity comes and threatens everything with an avalanche of fungi, mildews, rots and rusts.