The Fever Season For Gardening

In Britain some reporters are describing the date clocks go forward (from Greenwich Mean Time to British Summer Time) as the beginning of Summer. 

But I think most gardeners would agree that Winter lasts 3 months from November to February; while Spring goes from February to May. So my summer begins in May.

Now Gardening is Hasty Work

However, the change in day length from from one weekend's gardening to the next always impresses me at this time of year. The season is advancing rapidly. Every day is noticeably longer. The difference over a week seems huge.

For gardeners the pressure is on to complete tasks in time. And as usual I'm in a frantic hurry to complete. Plants need tidying up, earth needs to be prepared for seed and plants, and seeds need to be sown in time. 

Give Your Plants A Head Start

I sow lots of seeds in trays or modules and I can recommend this page on seed starting methods. Modules get the edge on seed sown direct in the earth for several reasons. One is that most seed beds are ideal for germinating weed seeds. But if you clean out the weeds before planting from modules your plants will be able to compete with any further growth of weed seedlings.

Another issue is the weather. In the UK the soil is drying out fast. But if we have rain on a seed bed the weeds will come up.

There's more on garden seeds and there's more information about organic weed control on the same web site.