It is time to make a start with the vegetable garden. Preparations can now be made for sowing seeds in the open ground. Soil that was dug last winter and turned up, should break down into a fine tilth as soon as it dries out a little.

Do not break the soil down until just before sowing your seeds or rain may compact it and temporarily spoil the structure. Well weathered soil is easy to knock into shape, but if you were late with the digging, then it might be necessary to use a rotavator to prepare a seed bed.

A rotavator should not be used on uncultivated heavy soil or else a hard pan or barrier may form beneath. This restricts root development and can result in the soil becoming waterlogged, as excess rainfall cannot easily drain away.

On light soil, sowings of parsnips may have already been made and both shallots and onion sets planted. If your soil is heavy, or has not been regularly worked, then it is preferable not to sow or plant too early. However, all three crops should go into the ground during the next two or three weeks, if a worthwhile harvest is to result.

Broad beans must be sown now. Although they are tough, and varieties like Aquadulce can be sown in November or February, unseasonable winter weather can cause problems unless they are protected by cloches. If sown now broad beans will grow away strongly, although later in the season precautions will have to be taken to protect them from blackfly.

Round seeded early peas, such as Feltham First, should be sown along with broad beans. It is preferable from a crop rotation point of view to group all the legumes together. Peas will require support and the sooner this can be provided the better.

If you can place the twiggy supports or netting so that they protect the emerging seedlings from birds this is a great advantage. If not, use wire pea guards over the young crop until the plants are three or four inches tall.

Early carrots can be sown directly where they are to mature. Sow thinly and after emergence reduce the seedlings to about an inch apart. For salad kinds, such as Amsterdam Forcing and Parisian Rondo, this is all that is required. Lettuce germinates freely if sown now. For an early sowing choose a relatively quick maturing variety such as Tom Thumb or Little Gem. Follow this with slower growing, but larger varieties like Fortune and Iceberg. Spring onions and radishes can be introduced carefully to the cropping programme. Regular sowings of spring onion from now onwards will ensure continuity. The same applies to radishes, but do not put them in until four weeks after the first lettuce sowing, or they will be ready before the rest of the salad dish has matured.

WHAT'S NEW

Benjamin Britten is a compact red flowered rose with a fruity fragrance.

Schneider is a later bearing apple variety which produces fruits which store successfully until the following April.

Kermit is a Thai-style round fruited aubergine.

Q I cut back my hebe in the autumn and it looks dead. Is there anything I can do to revive it?

A It is probably dead. However, wait until mid May before discarding it as it may shoot from the base. It is not normally wise to prune hebes before mid March.

Q How do I propagate a lobster claw plant?

A At this time of the year sow seed with the protection of a window ledge. Alternatively, short cuttings with a heel root easily in an equal parts peat and sharp sand mixture in a cold frame during mid summer.

Q What is the difference between a cypress and a conifer?

A A cypress is a conifer, but a particular group. It embraces the popular garden and hedging conifers Cupressus, Chamaecyparis and Cupressocyparis.