It is at this time of year that the slow starter creates a bigger garden clean-up job the longer they wait to get around to it . The abundant growth that plants put on during wet, warming and lengthening days is phenomenal. You turn your back and chaos has taken hold before you can get started creating what you want.

Any moment you get, go out to that garden area that you are planning to tranform this year and start working on it to keep it in shape for when you are ready to start. Keep the area clean of weeds, especially perennial weeds such as dandelion, and mulch the weed free beds to keep them that way for longer. If you have any invasive weeds now is your chance to really knock them back. The inevitable regrowth will be easier to wipe out the next time it emerges and you can further weaken the plantuntil it gives up - eventually. Cut back any dead growth from your perennial plants and prune out any deadwood from your shrubs to tidy and maintain open branching.

On the days you can't muster the courage for any back breaking work, get out your measuring tape and grid paper and plot out your garden space on paper. If you can create a scale to work with you will have a much easier time planning a more accurate number of plants required to fill the space in 3-5 years of growth. Take this plan and list of existing plants and their current sizes inside to start your garden design. If you don't have enough knowledge of plants to develop a plan at this stage it is time to call in the professionals and engage someone to design your garden with you. The work you have done so far is still valuable as you will have a clearer idea of what you have, what you want to keep and how you would like to improve the area.