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

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

I like unusual words and there are a couple that seem appropriate for this time of year. March, we know, is a fickle beast, where the weather can flicker from T-shirt to thermals in the course of a da

Spread a bulky mulch on top of the soil surface around the base of young apple trees to condition the soil, hold in moisture and suppress weeds. This will all help the tree to establish well. Use well

Helping you get your best-ever fruit and veg

Position logs randomly around garden borders rather than in neat piles to recreate the way they fall naturally from trees in the wild. You could artfully arrange them around spring-flowering plants or