As the long nights shorten, Mounton House garden quietly emerges from winter with delicate sprinklings of white narcissi, Scilla siberica and crocuses through the lawns. Daphnes fill the air with frag

It’s time for sowing, planting alpine containers and living screens and tidying up old growth

Pot them up now for early colour and free plants from the new shoots

Work your way through your borders, removing dandelion flowerheads before they get the chance to set seed. Flowers of dandelions are a useful source of early nectar for pollinators but if they are abl

There are some vegetables that thrive in the cold, but unless you aspire to self-sufficiency Tom Coward recommends caution when sowing very early in the year. “It’s a mistake, although we always do it

Sow courgette and squash seeds now so you’ll have seedlings ready to plant outside in early summer. Fill pots or large module trays with peat-free multi-purpose compost. Place one seed in each pot, ab