By Community correspondent Valerie McBride-Munro Now that we have seen blue skies and sunshine for the first time for a while, my mind is turning to things that need to be done in the garden. A word to the wise, I would allow a few more dry days to elapse before you go walking around on soggy soil. The garden really does need to dry up a little before any serious spring-cleaning is done.

To understand the damage that can be caused with a pair of feet, consider this. When you stand on a sponge it will depress and all the holes will disappear. When you take your foot off it, then it will spring back and the holes will reappear. Stand on wet soil, and you get the flat sponge syndrome - remove your foot and the soil stays depressed, and all the vital air holes have gone. Air spaces are vital for plant roots to thrive - eliminate them and the plants will struggle.

I was trawling through some old gardening magazines recently and I had one of those light-bulb moments. I help gardeners to make the best of the garden, but I’m sure that a lot of people look at these magazines and watch TV programmes with a sinking heart – it’s all too perfect. They can be daunted by the sight of perfect results in glossy magazines, and think that they’d never achieve anything like that.

And anyway the advice offered up is all very general, and doesn’t really address the specific problems that exist in your garden. As Auntie Planty, my job is to deliver practical hands on tips for that actual spot – the soil, the orientation, the family’s use of the space, the resident dogs, cats and bunny rabbits.

One of the saddest moments of my plant agony aunt life was when I visited a garden in Hampton where a garden designer had just left. Patricia (the garden owner) had been asked to offer up some dates for the designer’s team to return to maintain the garden. She said ‘oh no, I want to do it myself..’ Realising that she really didn’t know much about plants and how to care for them, I was called in. I looked – the lawn was a very inspiring shape, and when I gently asked what plans she had for there, there, there, there and over there she asked me what I meant… ‘Well,’ I said ‘those plants are all herbaceous perennials and in about four weeks they will have vanished altogether.’ My aim is to help folk make the garden a place of pleasure – where nothing is daunting or difficult. I firmly believe that if you understand why you are doing something, then the how to…. will follow quite naturally.