YOUR GARDEN: It's hoe you know

WRITE to Adrienne c/o Sunday Mirror Features, 1 Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London E14 5AP (she cannot reply personally). adrienne.wild@sundaymirror.co.ukAS the weather warms up and the blossom explodes, you know the countdown to summer has begun.

And if you put in a little effort now to train and tame your plants, you can sit back and reap the rewards with a summer garden that's more colourful than ever.

It's worth taking a methodical approach to plan your gardening activity.

Ten minutes spent each week wielding the hoe will save hours later on and keep gardening spend to a minimum by reducing your need for weedkillers and quick-fix fertilisers.

Weeds suck the soil dry and rob precious plants of nutrients so keep your eyes peeled for offenders, and especially annuals such as chickweed and hairy bittercress that set seed and spread like wildfire.

Scatter a general fertiliser such as Growmore around border plants and hoe it in. The bare earth can then be mulched.

This will not only suppress weeds and so reduce maintenance, it will also help to conserve soil moisture.

To fill gaps plant summer-flowering bulbs. Use gladioli and lilies to squeeze into narrow spaces or dahlias to fill gaping holes with colour.

Individual stems can be tied to canes - don't forget to top them with protective eye guards - or a plant with loose habit can be held upright such as penstemons and lupins upright with a ready-made support frame.

These frames, especially those made from twiggy sticks, should be put in as soon as possible so that plants can weave into them and disguise them as they grow.

Spring-flowering shrubs such as forsythia are boring to look at for the rest of the year, so give them a facelift for summer by using them as supports for annual climbers such as sweet peas, which also add fragrance to an otherwise dull plant.

Trim and tidy forsythia and other spring-flowering shrubs now to encourage healthy new growth and better blooms next spring.

Cut shoots that have flowered back to a pair of strong buds, taking out up to one-third of the older wood at the base. Sprinkle fertiliser around the shrub's root zone to avoid excess competition for water.

Plant sweet peas slightly away from the bush and use a cane to train the shoots into the plant.

No matter how much effort you put into the borders and containers your garden will not look its best at all this year if the lawn is below par.

Weed and feed now, trim and tidy the edges weekly and water in dry weather and your grass will be gorgeous too.

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