GARDEN WORK

THE strappy foliage of this spring's spent daffodils is still I hanging around in the garden

THE strappy foliage of this spring's spent daffodils is still I hanging around in the garden. Some gardeners like to wait until six weeks after flowering and then cut the leaves down to the ground. But, for bigger and better blooms next year, you can dead head the withered flowers and give the bulbs a boost with one or two liquid feeds. Allow the foliage to die back naturally.

In the vegetable garden you can sow French beans and runner beans now, but protect them from snails and slugs who adore their young leaves. For best results sow their seeds in ones or twos in small pots and plant them out when they have made a couple of pairs of leaves. if you don't use slug poison, keep some back-up plants to replace the inevitable losses.

Continue to sow salad crops for a constant supply during the summer.