I was delighted to be interviewed by the team at Positive Life for a feature story about organic gardening ( one of my passions!).It's a wonderful site jam-packed with tips on healthy living, inspirational stories, great recipes and lifestyle advice. Check it out on www.positivelife.ie

It happens every year. One day it’s miserable, dark and wet, and the next it’s warm and sunny. The garden looks a mess and you need to do something but you don't know where to start. What do you do? It’s easy.Spring gardening can be immensely rewarding, especially if it’s done properly. By following a few easy steps, your garden will be brimming with vibrant colour before you even know it.

Once your gardening tools are clean and neatly put away, it's time to get them out again -- for sharpening. It's essential  that you file your tools, such as shovels, hoes, and pruning shears sharpened to a fine edge. Mowing, planting, pruning, raking, spraying, spreading and transplanting are easy with the right equipment and a nightmare without them. Make sure you have the proper tools to care for your garden, and that you're maintaining them properly.

You may even want to invest in  a second, brand-new blade for your lawnmower. That way you will have a spare if the one currently on your lawnmower is past its prime. A sharp mower blade is necessary is you want to have a luscious  lawn. Old blades can injure your grass and allow disease to develop, which can be cost you money in the long run.

If you plan to put in a new lawn or plant bed, or if you had trouble getting things to grow successfully last year, thenyou may want to  think about having your soil tested. A soil test will tell you precisely what type of fertilizers and/or soil conditioners are needed to assure your garden flourishes during the warmer months.

A word of advice for people who are new to gardening, especially if you need a little help getting your garden into shape, is contacting professionals early in the spring. This is one of the busiest times of the year for garden and landscape designers, so book your appointment in early if you don't want to be put on a waiting list. 

You may also want to make arrangements early to buy sod or to organise sod delivery. If you want to put in a new lawn. You should choose only moist rolls. Any that have dry roots or yellowed turf are no good.

Keeping a diary is a fantastic way to keep track of plants during spring gardening. You can keep a note of the plants that worked last year and, indeed, what was a failure.This will give you a strategic plan for your garden and how you want it to develop over the coming months and even years. It will not only prove useful this year, but also next year when you may not remember all of the small details.

It's very important to remember to throw away any outdated chemicals. Following the instructions on the label are simple. Also make sure those you are keeping are stored where children and pets cannot get to them.

Tilling the soil where you want to begin your spring gardening is essential. Handfuls of the soil should easily crumble between your fingers.The surface of the soil usually ends up pretty lumpy after digging, so grab a fork and give it a good going over, whacking the larger lumps to break them up further.

When should you start planting? This often asked question can easily be answered. Weather, soil conditions, and what you are going to plant are the answers. Finally, when your spring garden is underway, remember that you still have to prune. Because, for many plants, the flowers that will come up next year have set within 10 days of the end of a bloom, timing is crucial.

Now that you have the basics, your spring gardening won’t be so much of a chore, but more of a pleasure.