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The practice of reducing the number of plants in a bed or container to provide more room for growth. In fruit production, to reduce the crop of fruitlets early on in order to produce larger fruits for harvest.

Sprinkle a handful of sulphate of potash fertiliser around the base of fruit trees and bushesPlant new raspberry canes and blackberry plantsPrepare beds to plant asparagusPlace tunnel cloches or simple sheets of polythene over beds to warm soil

Plant out summer beddingSummer is almost here, but before you rush into the greenhouse to bring out your summer bedding plants, make sure the threat of frost is completely passed. For a successful display, take it slowly and acclimatise plants

Plant out container-grown roses and shrubsFork compost into flower beds to prepare soil for summer beddingTie in new growth on climbing plants, such as clematis, wisteria and honeysuckle, to supportsPick off faded flowers from camellias, azaleas

I'm gradually filling up the beds on the allotment. Last week I planted main crop potatoes – a variety called Picasso, which doesn't seem too prone to slugs, and one called Cara, which is cited in catalogues as 'the allotment favourite'. I

Three out of the 16 raised beds up at the allotment are now looking a bit neater, thanks to the surplus pallet timber supplied by our neighbours. The beds were certainly due for an overhaul. The lower parts of the previous planks had turned to dark

Buy plug plants and young bedding plants to grow on for baskets, pots and bedding displaysThin out heavy fruit sets on peaches and nectarines, leaving fruits about 10cm apartSow annual climbers, such as cup-and-saucer vine (Cobaea), nasturtium

Plant out tender summer-bedding plants, such as begonias, once all risk of frost has passedLook out for aphids on lupins, and spray with a soap-based insecticide if infectedPush canes into pots of tall-growing lilies and tie their stems

levels in garden pondsFeed bedding plants with high-potash fertiliser to keep them bloomingWeed flower beds, pulling them up by hand or hoeing bare areas on a hot dayScoop floating weed from ponds with a net

perennials and bedding plantsCollect seed from any flowers you fancy propagatingTrap earwigs among dahlias with upside-down pots stuffed with straw and balanced on canesPick leaves off plants affected by rose blackspotTrim conifer hedges and evergreen hedges