Well it is officially here, Spring in Vancouver. Look out for fresher air, more flowers, the sound of lawnmowers, the smell of grass clippings, bicyclists, garage sales and trips to the garden centre. All good signs that winter is well and truly behind us and we can seriously start to look forward to the growing season ahead of us.

The fact that it is no longer winter doesn't mean that we wont get any more winter weather. Be cautious with the timing of putting out your protected tender plants into your landscape. It is also still too soon to plant your summer annuals. Think designing and preparation to bide your time and use your energy on a sunny day to empty old soil out of your planters and refresh with new soil. By the time it is May you will be ready to plant your pots with summer flowering annuals without any of the hard work.

Many vegetable seeds can be started in Vancouver now to add veggies to your garden plot or in areas of your landscape. I spent Saturday planting up tomatoes, cucumbers, sunflowers, artichokes and asparagus in pots and brought them inside to germinate. Outside I planted a lettuce blend and peas, and look forward to planting zucchini, bush beans and nasturtium.

I have been thinking I should plant some berries and train them against the garage wall. That would be a good way to maximise my space and have a ready supply of berries to add to my cereal in the summer - Yum! There are some blackberry varieties that are not as aggressive as the weedy Himalayan blackberry that I should look for. Maybe I should try a blueberry for fun. They don't seem to produce a lot of berries per plant but they are very beautiful little shrubs with great fall colour so they add a lot to your designed landscape.