Brian Kidd has got your gardening weekend to-do list sorted

Get started now to have a great garden in the summer.
By Brian Kidd
Published 23rd Jan 2019, 09:40 BST
Updated 7th Feb 2019, 18:34 BST
One easy way to help the wildlife is to ensure the birds have clean drinking water every day, says Brian Kidd.One easy way to help the wildlife is to ensure the birds have clean drinking water every day, says Brian Kidd.
One easy way to help the wildlife is to ensure the birds have clean drinking water every day, says Brian Kidd.

Try to concentrate on producing as much garden compost as possible so that this can be used as a dressing when earthing up the potatoes in summer. Get your hands on some manure from local stables. Leave the manure in bags in order that it can rot down. Mixed with compost, it’s another good material to earth up potatoes next summer and can also reduce the problem of potato scab which causes marks on the new potatoes. It may seen cold but there is more strength in the sunshine and this is reflected in the garden. Ease the soil around bulbs and spring bedding to help the new foliage emerge with ease. A hand held garden fork is ideal for this job. Take dead leaves off the base of the Christmas rose (helleborus) plants and scatter sharp sand around the plant to prevent the blooms being splashed with mud. Make sure the birds have clean water every day.