Key Spring tasks for the Vegetable and Fruit Garden

Key Seasonal Jobs for the Vegetable and Fruit Garden in Early Spring By the GardenAdvice Team

As we move into spring, it’s time to shake off the winter chill and get cracking with some essential tasks in the fruit and vegetable garden. This season marks a turning point—sowing seeds, feeding fruit trees, and preparing the ground for the busy growing months ahead. Here are some key jobs to prioritise as the days lengthen and the soil warms.

1. Seed Sowing: Start Strong

Spring is the prime time for sowing seeds, whether you’re using traditional seed trays, biodegradable peat pots, or upcycled toilet and kitchen roll tubes.

• Seed Trays:
  When sowing in trays, use a fine seed compost like John Innes No.1. It’s important to firm the compost in gently, ensuring it’s level and slightly compacted. Once seeds are sown, water thoroughly so that the seeds make good contact with the moist compost, giving them the best chance to germinate.
  
• Peat Pots and Cardboard Tubes:
  These are ideal for crops such as brassicas (e.g. cabbages and cauliflowers) that dislike root disturbance. The roots can grow through the material, and when the time comes to plant them out, the whole pot can go in the ground. Just be sure they don’t dry out—once dry, they can act like a sponge and pull moisture away from the plant’s roots, which can cause a setback.
  

2. Organising Young Plants

Now is also a good time to source young vegetable plants, either from your local garden centre or via mail order from trusted suppliers such as Gardener’s Kitchen on the internet Some crops like chillies, peppers, and aubergines benefit from a head start. These should ideally be sown just after Christmas under heat, so buying young plants now from growers with heated greenhouses can save time and provide excellent value.

3. Mind the Light: Indoor vs. Outdoor Sowing

Sowing indoors on a windowsill is convenient but comes with a challenge: low light quality. This can lead to leggy, weak seedlings. On fine, frost-free days, it’s worth placing trays or pots in a cold frame or greenhouse to soak up better light. Just remember to bring them in again if low night-time temperatures are forecast.

4. Fruit Tree Care: Feeding and Watering

If you’ve followed best practice and fed your fruit trees over the winter with a general fertiliser like Growmore, great—you’re already on track. As we move through spring and blossoms start to fade, giving your trees a good soak will help them retain more fruit. This is especially important during a dry spring, as water stress at this stage can cause trees like apples and pears to drop their young fruit prematurely.

5. Compost Heap TLC

Don’t forget your compost heap! Spring is a perfect time to give it a tidy and turn. A healthy compost heap needs feeding and watering, especially as microbial activity ramps up with warmer weather. Keep it balanced with a good mix of greens (veg scraps, grass clippings) and browns (shredded paper, woody material) to maintain steady decomposition.

6. Hotbeds for Early Crops

One exciting project we’ve been working on with some of our GardenAdvice members is the creation of mini hotbeds. These use fresh horse manure, soil bacteria, and high-nitrogen fertilisers to generate heat at the base of raised beds or cold frames. This creates a warm environment for early-season crops, extending your growing season and giving seedlings a significant head start.

Click here to more information on creating a hotbed for early season salads 

Spring is one of the most exciting times in the gardening calendar. Whether you’re sowing seeds, setting up a hotbed, or watering your fruit trees, the work you put in now will pay off handsomely later in the season. Stay organised, be patient, and remember—gardening is as much about the process as it is the harvest.