Monty Don has shared a warning sign that gardeners need to look out for before they start their planting in March. Monty, 70, has been a lifelong gardener after he began weeding his parents' strawberry patch as a child.

He maintained a passion for the outdoors throughout his life and now fronts the BBC's Gardeners' World. On it he shares tips and tricks with viewers as well as sharing an insight into his own garden at his Longmeadow home in Herefordshire. And Monty says March is a good time to divide any herbaceous plant. He recommends gardeners should dig the whole plant up and discard the centre into the compost heap.

He suggests planting the "more vigorous outside parts" into groups meaning they will grow into a single plant. He suggests doing this to all herbaceous perennials "every three to five years".

Monty also believes that March is a good time to get planting and planning out the way you want your garden to look. He however says there is one thing gardeners should do before planting.

Writing in Gardeners' World magazine, he said: "If your soil is ready then March is a good time to plant and move things around. But 'ready' means, above all, warm enough.

"The only way to know this is by touch. Pick up a handful of earth. If it feels cold and clammy to the skin then seeds will not germinate and roots will not grow. If it feels warm, holds together when squeezed and yet can easily be crumbled then it is ideal."

Elsewhere, Monty has discussed the struggles gardeners face due to the unpredictable weather in March. On his website, he wrote: "March changes from day to day, even hour to hour. We often have snow, frost, wind, rain and warm sunshine and always have daffodils, blossom, fritillaries, the hedges breaking into leaf and the grass growing."

He however says now is a good time to start getting your vegetables in the ground. Monty said: "Sow seeds under cover such as cabbage, lettuce, celery, beetroot and tomatoes. Do not sow any seeds outside if the ground feels cold to the touch.

"If warm and dry enough, sow broad beans, beetroot, rocket, spinach, mizuna, parsnips, radish and winter lettuce."

Monty says that now is also a good time to tidy up your garden, raking up fallen leaves and removing moss and foliage. And away from the plants, he says the spring is a good time to continue feeding birds to help give baby chicks a chance of survival.

Monty returns to screens with Gardeners' World from 6pm today (March 6). This week Monty will be breathing new life into a tired agapanthus and potting up a fig tree for a future harvest.

Meanwhile a retired GP will show Frances Tophill around his West Yorkshire garden, where he is planting prairies. At RHS Hyde Hall, Ashley Edwards will be talking all about the resilience of drought-resistant plants.