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roses to prevent hellebore leaf spot spreadingPick off developing seed heads on daffodils and spring bulbsSprinkle fertiliser over flower beds and around shrubs and roses

Cover rows of strawberries with cloches to encourage early fruitingPlant early potatoes outside in rows, or in large pots of compostSpray fruit trees and bushes with fungicide to prevent powdery mildew disease attacking themPick off faded

Pick dead flower-heads off rhododendrons and azaleasHoe borders to keep down weeds, or treat with weedkillerScoop floating weed out of garden ponds with a netFeed lawns with a liquid or granular lawn fertiliserTrim hedges like privet and Lonicera

privetKeep mowing the lawn regularlyDeadhead border plants, unless you want to collect seedsPick everlasting flowers or herbs for dryingOrder flower bulbs for autumn planting including colchicum, daffodils and other spring bulbsLook out for developing

Lift, divide and replant congested flag irises after floweringDeadhead border perennials like delphiniums and lupins to encourage a second flush of bloomsPick dead flowers off rhododendronsDeadhead roses to encourage more flowersCut back ceanothus

mildew and blackspotPropagate climbers like wisteria and passion flower by layering. Bend low shoots to soil level and peg them down, making a slit in the portion buried to encourage rootingPick off any lily bulbils forming on the stems and pot them up

and kalanchoePick peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers and other greenhouse crops regularly to encourage further flowers to develop

Train cucumbers and prune back sideshootsPick off flowers on coleus to maintain their colourful leavesWater tomatoes regularly to prevent fruits from splittingTake cuttings from fuchsias, coleus, pelargoniums, marguerites and other tender perennials

to propagate including aquilegia, polemonium and foxglovesIdentify rose problems and pick off diseased leavesPrune philadelphus, weigela and other early summer-flowering shrubsPropagate lily bulbs by taking off a few outer scales and putting them in bags

Pick off leaves infected by rose blackspot or rose rust, and dispose of them in your dustbin and not on the compost heapSet up an automatic watering system with a drip nozzle for potted plants if you're going on holidayTop up water levels in ponds