GARDENING: 16 jobs you can do this weekend

* Sow seeds in modules/pots in an unheated greenhouse: broad beans, leeks, lettuce, rocket, coriander, peas and Swiss chard. Sow sweet peppers, tomatoes, chillis, cucumbers, aubergines, celery, salads and globe artichokes in a propagator.

* Sprinkle granular fertiliser around clumps of spring bulbs.

* This is the best month for planting roses in heavy soils or in cold areas. Don't plant a rose where one was grown before, otherwise new introductions may suffer from replant disease. Feed plants with a granular rose fertiliser as they come into growth. Prune established bush and standard roses as they start growing.

* Plant onion sets in modular trays of compost, raising plants under cover to plant out later.

* Buy and plant shrubs and perennials. It gives them more time to get their roots established before the growing season ­ drought and heat kill more first-­year plants than the cold.

* Cut back ornamental grasses and other herbaceous perennials to make way for the new growth.

* Lift and divide large clumps of hostas, or any other hardy perennial with a crown. Add copper rings to pots to protect plants from slugs and snails.

* Cut off old leaves of hellebores that produce flowers from ground level to expose the flowers and remove hellebore leaf spot.

* Aphids can multiply rapidly during mild spells. Protect sweet pea plants in particular, as they can get sweet pea viruses, which are transmitted by the sap suckers.

* Last chance this month to prune late-­summer flowering deciduous shrubs, such as Buddleja davidii, Caryopteris clandonensis, Ceratostigma, Hydrangea paniculata, Leycesteria, Lavatera, Perovskia, hardy fuchsia, and deciduous Ceanothus. Shrubs such as Eucalyptus gunnii and Cornus sanguinea cultivars are cut back very hard to deepen the stem colour and keep them manageable.

* Prepare seedbeds, covering them with polythene or fleece to warm up the soil before sowing.

* Cut back late summer and autumn flowering (group 3) Clematis. Cut to the lowest pair of strong buds above ground level, then mulch and feed.

* Prune back stems on pot­grown overwintered fuchsias, and place them in a well-­lit, warm spot to re­shoot. Pot them on in fresh compost and start feeding six to eight weeks later.

* If you have seedlings and cuttings in the greenhouse, make sure they are getting the maximum light, or they will become weak and leggy. Turn them once a day so that they get light on both sides.

* It's your last chance to plant bare-­root fruit trees, and ideally plant container-­grown ones too. Apply a mulch around fruit trees, nuts, and bushes as long as the ground isn’t frozen and repot or top dress container­grown fruit.

* Continue chitting early and maincrop potatoes.

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