Steve Whitehead, the head gardener at Colby Woodland Garden, is urging green-fingered residents across West Wales to share their green spaces as part of the #NTWalesGardenProud competition.

The competition has a number of great prizes up for grabs. These include a garden survey by a National Trust gardener, a plaque certifying your garden as National Trust approved, as well as family passes to National Trust properties in Wales.

The competition closes today (Friday, May 8), so entrants need to move quickly to ensure they're in with the chance to win. All you need to do to enter is post a photo of your garden on the National Trust Wales Facebook page, or on Twitter or Instagram, using the hashtag #NTWalesGardenProud. Alternatively, you can email your entry to [email protected]">[email protected].

For some inspiration, here are some of Steve's top tips about how to get your garden ready ahead of the summer months.

What is the best part of your job?

It's very fulfilling to plant a tree that should still be there in 200 years.

Top spring gardening tip?

Don't be too fierce with the spring cleaning, wildlife needs long grass, piles of vegetation dead-wood, and dead leaves. And don't try to fight nature too much, learn to enjoy the unexpected, interloping native seedling.

What should gardeners be doing now in order to prep for the rest of the year?

Nature abhors bare soil, she'll bake it dry or wash it away. If you have bare soil, plant something or mulch it thickly to cover it now, before the spring rains or the heat of summer do their worst.

What are the spring 2015 flower trends?

Small is beautiful!

What are your favourite flowers?

Epimediums, dieramas or anything either small and delicate, or tall and graceful with movement.

What would you consider to be the biggest floral wow at Colby?

Great masses of exotic Rhododendron blooms, set amidst swathes of delicate native bluebells.

Favourite garden in the UK, or internationally?

I'd say Dewstow Gardens and Grottoes near Chepstow, Wales. I love caves, water, and ferns, and it has them all. It also has that extra something, the sense of exploration, discovery and surprise that many truly great gardens possess. I would dearly love to have seen it at its peak.

What would you suggest to a new gardener who would like to get involved in gardening?

Get a compost heap going!

What are the easiest produce to grow in a simple kitchen garden or allotment space?

Garlic and onions, they're so easy to grow, and always needed in the kitchen.

What tools would you recommend for an amateur gardener looking to establish a basic garden, or possibly an allotment space?

A really comfortable pair of good strong gloves will serve far better than all the complicated hardware in the world!

To enter #NTWalesGardenProud, post your picture on Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag. Alternatively, post your image on the Facebook page National Trust Love Wales, or send it to garden