Vegetables
If the weather seems to promise an early spring, it is tempting to rush into seed sowing, but a cautious approach for the new month will pay off later with fewer plant losses.
In warm corners, the greenhouse or under glass, a few seeds of cabbages (Flower of Spring, Golden Acre, small-headed Space Saver or Ranfurly Mini), cauliflower (All Year Round, Freda, Snowdrop) and Brussels sprouts can be sown.
Bolder gardeners may also want to try their luck with lettuce (Rouge d'Hiver, Cisco), spinach and mini carrots (Paris Market, Ladies Finger, Mini Sweet) but the weather will determine the level of success.
Brussels sprouts should have priority in terms of seed sowing, as they require the longest growing season of the brassicas, which include cabbage and cauliflower.
First recorded in Belgium in 1750, sprouts will take two to three months from seed sowing to transplanting into the garden where they are to mature.
Plants will grow to 1m or more and may need soil mounded firmly around their bases to hold them in the ground.
In very windy gardens, staking can be necessary.
To help keep white butterflies and aphids away, pyrethrum plants can be grown around Brussels sprouts and other brassicas but the pyrethrum must be allowed to flower, as most of the insect-repelling properties are in the white, daisy-like blooms.
Seed of brown-skinned onions (Pukekohe Long Keeper, Ailsa Craig) can be sown now in sandy soil under glass or in a warm part of the garden.
Ideally, these onions should be sown in autumn to get off to an early start in spring.
The earliest potatoes - Jersey Benne remains a favourite with southern gardeners - may be planted now but will need protection from frost when the shoots come through.
Pea straw piled loosely over the rows and held in place with netting or covering the plants with frost cloth are alternatives to going out with sheets of newspaper on nights when frost looks likely.
Rhubarb, Jerusalem artichokes and asparagus can be planted now.
The site for Jerusalem artichokes should be chosen with care, as these tough relatives of the sunflower can be invasive, the tiniest tuber left one year springing up the following season.
Wood ash was a widely used fertiliser in the 19th and 20th centuries but has now been shown to contain toxins that can leach into the soil.
Use a commercial potash preparation instead.
Coal ash should not be used on the garden.
Compost heaps can be built up year round with garden weeds but never with docks, dandelions, convolvulus, Californian thistles or couch grass, which usually fail to rot.
The tiniest piece of any of these weeds takes off in the garden.
Materials tainted with disinfectants, oil, creosote, tar and paint all destroy some of the micro-organisms that decompose the contents of the compost heap.
Plant residues infected with fungal diseases should not go into compost because of the likelihood of the disease being transferred to next season's crops.
There is no sign of growth in the lawn, so this is the time have your mower serviced and blades sharpened.
Check garden tools and sharpen secateurs, loppers and spades.
Always clean garden tools after use and wipe blades of secateurs and loppers with disinfectant.
Flowers
Seed is harvested in autumn, so the seed racks in garden centres are now bright with packets of fresh seeds.
Although sowing may be weeks or even months away, do not delay buying seed, as popular varieties are invariably the first to go.
Store seed in airtight containers in a cool place.
Delphiniums are among the easiest perennials to grow from seed.
Pacific Giants and Shogun will grow to 1m or more, while Delphinium grandiflorum will reach just 30cm.
Delphiniums come in shades of blue, pink and mauve, as well as white.
The centre of the flower (the bee) is black or white.
Some seed companies offer individual colours (Dwarf Fountains Sky Blue, for example) or indicate bee colour.
Sown in spring, the Magic Fountains range will give some flowers by the end of summer but generally delphiniums come into their own a year after planting out.
Seed needs warm conditions (18degC to 20degC) to germinate, so don't rush to sow it.
If the weather is fine and the soil not waterlogged, Michaelmas daisies, delphiniums, penstemons and phlox can be broken up, then replanted in well-composted soil to give better flowers over the next two or three seasons.
If slugs and snails attack young shoots, protect by surrounding the plants with dry sawdust.
To divide these hardy perennials, lift the clumps with a fork, then use a sharp spade to slice through the plant.
Cleaning flower pots is a tedious task but worth the effort to prevent the possibility of disease.
Scrub the pots then dunk them in boiling water to which a generous amount of baby nappy steriliser has been added.
Fruit
Keeping the ground clear around apple, pear and stone-fruit trees will help keep the trees free of disease.
Do not leave fruit on trees over winter and always gather windfalls and prunings.
Heritage fruit trees, particularly apples, are gaining popularity.
Many ceased to be commercially produced because of uneven fruit shape or size, inability to store well over long periods or a biennial fruiting cycle (lots of fruit one year followed by a smaller crop).
None of these factors should deter the home gardener from growing old apples such as Hetlina, Reinette du Canada and Allens Everlasting.
Old varieties often have the added advantage of being more disease-resistant than modern cultivars.
This makes them particularly suitable for organic gardening or for those who do not have time to spray fruit trees.
