TODAY, St Patrick's Day, is the day to sow your sweet peas, according to gardening folklore.
However, if you haven't prepared the soil, don't worry.
You can sow seeds from late summer right through to the end of autumn, and even spring in some colder areas.
Choose a sunny location.
Prepare the soil by digging though well-decayed animal manure or compost and add some lime.
Depending on the variety, sweet peas can grow up to 1.8m high or as short as 40-50cm - so, if you have climbers, put in some trellising, and preferably away from strong winds, which can knock them around a bit in spring.
As with most legume seeds, give them a good watering in when you sow them and then leave the watering until the seeds have germinated, unless it is exceptionally dry weather.
The hardest decision you will have to make is which variety to choose.
Those that have strongly perfumed flowers include painted lady with white and pink flowers, old-fashioned spice mix, the rosy-pink Miss Willmot and the long-stemmed mammoth mixed.
You can also grow the taller varieties in large tubs, making a tripod out of bamboo stakes to support them and even painting the stakes a colour complementary to the blooms.
Dwarf varieties also have their place in the garden and can quickly cover a large area.
Bijou mix makes a good cut flower and only reaches 40-50 cm high and explorer mixed, as its name suggests, creeps over the ground exploring new territory and reaching a height of 50-60cm.
Love that lawn
GO OVER lawn areas with a garden fork or lawn aerator and open up the soil in compacted, high-traffic areas.
You can also buy special spiked aerating sandals that tie on over normal shoes or work boots.
The idea is that you walk over lawn areas aerating the soil as you go. Rake out any thatched areas, where clippings or dead roots have managed to build up and apply an organic lawn food and water in well.
This will give growth in autumn and help to rejuvenate the lawn.
