Preparing seedbeds

It may not yet be spring, and conditions are still cold, but you're almost ready to plant – so ensure that your plot has been properly dug.
Now is the best time to prune autumn raspberry bushes, cutting all canes down to the ground before mulching and top-dressing with fertiliser over the roots.
If required, plant new fruit trees and bushes, as long as the ground is not too wet, or frozen.
Incorporate lots of well-rotted organic matter into the ground before digging the planting hole or trench.
During very frosty weather, newly planted fruit trees and bushes can lift, so re-firm them in if necessary.
Start preparing seedbeds by cultivating, raking and levelling, covering them with clear polythene, cloches or fleece to warm up the soil before sowing.
Finish any major digging and weeding, but try to avoid digging in wet weather.
If gardening on top of wet soil, work from a plank of wood, to avoid treading on the bed and compacting the soil.
Weeds that haven't gone to seed can be added to your compost heap.
Weeds that have gone to seed can be rotted down in a plastic bag before you add them to the compost heap.
Vegetables which can be sown in February include broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, carrots, chard, onion bulbs, English peas, spinach, beetroot, lettuce, radish and turnip.
If you have the time, prepare your runner bean supports and trenches for sowing (in May) or planting out (in June).
This will save you time later.

The information for this month's column has been kindly supplied by Hull City Council horticulture manager Andrew Wilson after our regular columnist Arthur Wilson suffered a stroke.
Andrew and the staff at Hull in print wish Arthur and his family all the best for a speedy recovery.