Monty Don says 'now is the perfect moment' as he encourages gardeners to take action

Monty Don told gardeners that "now is the perfect moment" to start planting their bulbs ahead of the spring. Many gardeners will be hoping to achieve a lucious, colourful plot in the warmer months.

And Monty, 70, says that now is the time when you should start looking ahead for next year. Particularly if you want your garden to include more colourful blooms such as daffodils or crocus. Monty says spring at Longmeadow is often made up of flowers such as roses and cow parsley as well as rich crocuses. Speaking on Gardeners' World, he said: "Bulbs in long grass, in spring, look fantastic and now is the perfect moment to plant them out. Except for tulips, tulips could wait another month.

"If you've got daffodils, crocus, cammasias, get them into the grass now if you can. And there's the rub, because after the summer we've had, even if it's been rainy for a few days, the ground is still like iron."

Monty says the wet and dry summer has even had an impact on his own garden at Longmeadow. He continued: "What it means here at Longmeadow is that I physically can't plant them out and may not be able to for another month or two, by which time it's getting a bit late.

"By this time of year, they want to start growing their roots and getting established. So the delay means you are affecting their growth and that will affect their flowering both in quality and quantity."

Monty says the hard ground at Longmeadow means he has been potting up flowers ahead of next spring to get them ready for planting. He says a normal compost, possibly with a bit of extra grit, can help ahead of spring.

He encouraged gardeners to plant them around twice their own depth, but assures gardeners that it doesn't need to be as deep in a pot. Having planted a daffodil in a pot, Monty described it as a "holding bay" until about Christmas time.

Monty says spring "comes slowly" to his Herefordshire home, conceding it is a "very wet, very cold" place. Although flowers such as snowdrops and aconites do start to appear from early January on.

He admits the weather can feel "wintry" but his garden is "committed" to spring by March. He says the roses and cow parsley are often in full swing by May.

On his website, Monty writes: "The various areas of long grass and wild flowers are rich with crocuses that are soon followed by narcissi, fritillaries and camassias. The hedges start to prickle with new green leaves and the orchard trees billow with blossom. "