A wood full of the beautiful nodding heads and scent of bluebells is a quintessentially English experience and they will be coming out this month. Unfortunately, they are under threat from the Spanish bluebell which is grown in gardens as it was considered more decorative than its English cousin. How to tell them apart? Well the English bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) has scented flowers borne on one side of the stem, the anthers are cream-coloured and unequeal, and the flower spike is nodding. The Spanish bluebell (H.hispanica) has unscented flowers borne on all sides of the stem. It has blue equal anthers and an upright flower spike. So, take care with what you plant (under no circumstances harvest any from the wild!), sourcing them from reputable retailers and you too could enjoy the fragrance of your own little bluebell patch.

Start feeding the soft fruit in the garden – strawberries and raspberries etc. can do with a balanced general fertilizer such as blood, fish and bone or Growmore applied at about 70g per square metre. This will supply potassium (k) for flower and fruit production, nitrogen (n) for foliage and phosphorus (p) for strong roots.

As daffodils finish flowering the faded flower-heads can be removed. The small daffodils which are being grown to naturalise can be left to form seed-heads. Don’t cut off the foliage – it needs at least 6 weeks dying to replenish the bulb underneath so it can flower the following year. Don’t tie it up in strange bundles with elastic bands as this can damage the leaves as well as being very odd-looking.

Try sowing a sprinkling of hardy annual seeds like annual poppies or Love-in-a-Mist through the flower border in a sunny position. Night Scented Stocks can be sown as well to fragrance the garden in summer evenings. They are not much to look at but are delicious to smell – put them by windows or patios to enjoy.

This could be a good time to buy winter flowering trees and shrubs – prices may be reduced in garden centres – giving you a good show next winter. This is also a good time to plant evergreens into well prepared soil with a balanced fertilizer added. Make sure you keep them well watered during the summer if it is dry.

Begin feeding the lawn in April when growth starts again. Apply a proprietary spring/summer lawn fertiliser in two applications. It should be high in nitrogen to encourage the grass to grow nice and green.