GARDENING TASKS FOR SPRING

• Feed your plants and lawns
  Plants need feeding as they burst into growth. Apply organic-based general fertilisers to garden beds but for pots, use liquid feeds or slow-release products. Lawns need specialised, high-nitrogen fertilisers.
• Look after the lawn
  Now's the time to renovate the lawn or lay a new one.
• Get planting
  It's planting season too, a good time to make over problem areas or plant fast-growing shade trees.
• Renew your mulch
  After fertilising garden beds, renew mulch cover before the heat of summer.
• Get your watering in order
  Check irrigation systems and reprogram timers as temperatures rise.
• Prune flowering plants
  Prune camellias to shape and tip-prune other winter/early spring-flowering plantsas they finish blooming.

VEGETABLE TO PLANT IN SPRING

Spring in the vegie patch is all about the sowing and planting of summer vegies. You could fill your vegetable patch with different varieties of tomatoes and beans, but make room for capsicums, chillies, eggplant, cucumbers, beetroot, carrots, lettuce, zucchini and Asian greens. Basil and parsley are essential, too.

Weekly doses of seaweed and liquid fertiliser will help them all grow strong and fast. Cover seedlings overnight if late frosts are forecast. In warmer areas, plant sweet potatoes, ginger and galangal.

PEST CONTROL

Regular pest checks should be made as your seedlings establish, but considering your vegies are plants that are to be later consumed, you will want to be careful when selecting an insecticide to make sure that it is non-toxic. There are many natural pest control methods you can try for your garden that are extremely effective, from homemade insecticides to protective measures.