Gardening: How to bring the scent of spring into your living room | Brian Kidd

My next job is to clean out the stream which crosses our garden. Don’t be jealous, this stream is an embarrassment when it fills with leaves and twigs. I really wanted to dig out some of the herbaceous plants such as phlox. golden rod and helenium which all need to be divided. This is done by digging out the whole plant. Then, using two garden forks thrust into the clump and pushing the handles together, I’m able to split the clump. I had a go but the holes were filling with water, so this job will have to wait. I am not worried, things will improve soon so I am going into the border next to the stream to find some lily of the valley plants. Have you some lily of the valley plants in your garden? Would you love to see them come into bloom in the comfort of your home and fill the room with that unique perfume? As ever, choose a pleasant day. You know where the lily of the valley plants are growing, so take a digging fork and dig out a clump. The soil will be very wet but you should see loads of roots with white shoots which look a bit like white medical caplets with a pointed top. Whoosh the roots out in water to get rid of the soil – it's best to wash the soil off in a bucket of water and put the roots and buds into five-inch diameter pots of potting compost. It’s easy to do. Half-fill the pot with universal potting compost. Plant the roots with the tips of the buds uppermost. Cover the roots and shoots with the compost and give the compost a good drink of water. Are you now disappointed because you have no lily of the valley plants? Nip along to your garden centre and you should be able to find lily of the valley pips in cellophane packs. Don't leave it too long because a lot of people read these articles… Pot them up as described above. Results will be apparent quite quickly. In about five weeks, in a cold greenhouse, the shoots will appear and leaves unfold, but if they are grown indoors in a warm room, in a window, the leaves will appear in about four weeks, and the flowers will appear a couple of weeks later. Keep the plants cool. Just water the pot when the compost feels dry and they will provide flowers for about three weeks. The perfume will be just WOW! What do we do once the flowers fade? Simply cut off the dead flowers with scissors, retaining the beautiful heart-shaped leaves intact and then replant them in the garden and they will provide flowers in the spring of 2021. Keep smiling, the weather will improve all of a sudden! THIS WEEK’S TOP TIP This is the last chance to move shrubs and trees from one part of the garden to another. Simply choose a nice day. You would be surprised how many people leave this job until it is too late.