Sow, grow, don’t mow: 15 ways to get your garden ready for spring and summer

Whether it’s organising the shed, sharpening tools or giving garden furniture a good scrub, here are tips to prep – and enjoy – your outdoor patch

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The winter of soggy malaise is over. Daffs have popped up; the tulips are well on their way; the days are bright, clear and longer than the nights are short. With that comes a sense of the outdoors: the garden. Perhaps this fills you with delight, getting your fingers in the earth after work or dinner. Or perhaps it fills you with a sense of vague dread – you haven’t been out there all winter, and there’s just so much to do.

But our gardens are places for us to enjoy and share with others in our ecosystem. So if you want to spend the summer luxuriating in yours, now is the time to get your sticks together: sow, grow and don’t mow.