Spring in the garden at Croft

"Already we are seeing signs of life returning to the garden with frogs and toads already active in the pond and blackbirds and thrushes singing in the mornings. The bird feeders are amazingly busy with goldfinches, long-tailed tits, nuthatches and siskins filling up on fuel to get them through the cold weather."

"Snowdrops are flowering and early daffs are coming through well, as are some of the 4000 tulips we put in a few years ago. Other spring bulbs to look out for are muscari, scilla, puschkinia and chionodoxa. All in all it should be a spectacular spring display."

"At the moment we are working through the borders in the garden dividing and replanting some of the big clumps of herbaceous perennial plants such as rudbekias, helianthus and echinops. Every two or three years it is good practice to divide plants - they definitely benefit from the procedure and it means you get more plants to move around. We grow a lot of plants that are really good for butterflies and bees and we hope to have yet another good year for insects."

"We are also working on our old apple trees which were planted about 80 years ago. We open up the canopies to let in air and light and spur prune the branches to create a good strong framework for the apples to grow in."

"Winter is enjoyable for us even though the cold weather is challenging and the kettle goes on more than it would in the summer. There is a change in the garden though and you can feel the slow turning of the seasons. Apparently spring moves up the country from north to south at about 4 miles per hour which is about walking pace, it would be nice if it jogged occasionally!"