If you’ve always wanted the garden of your dreams, but never had the time to commit to the upkeep, Spring is the season to bring your slice of paradise to fruition. It’s a busy time in nature, so it’s a great time to jump into gardening with both welly-clad feet. To ensure everything in your garden is coming up roses this season, follow our six handy steps to prepare your garden for Spring.
Ditch The Debris
The first task is to have a general clean-up, and remove leaves and other debris from your flowerbeds, lawn and pond if you have one. Rake your lawn if it’s dry enough, and check that the dormant grass is a healthy brown colour. If neither of these apply, leave raking as it will detriment the lawn. Take care of your weeds, too. Even if you can’t see any, it’s most likely that they are still living in your lawn. To prevent weeds from becoming visible, apply a herbicide to your lawn and flower beds, or add mulch to prevent weed growth. Also, take a look at the crowns of your perennial plants, and you might find a few unwelcome surprises!
Prune And Trim
As a general rule-of-thumb, begin trimming your trees before the buds appear. Warm weather will obviously accelerate the appearance of buds on your trees, so now is a great time to start trimming. Cut branch stubs, low limbs, sucker growth, crowded limbs and rubbing branches to achieve healthy trees and shrubs. Also consider the crown of your trees and shrubs, and try to keep a good shape by trimming them into shape.
Do The Groundwork
Tilling your soil is another important step in preparing your garden for the new season. The purpose of this is for the roots to reach all the nutrients and moisture they need. A good tip is to water your soil a day before tilling, and always try to till at least four inches under to get the most out of your roots.
In With The New
Before planting anything, plan where you’re going to place which flowers and, if applicable, your vegetable plants. Spring is a great time to start planning a vegetable garden – think of where you’ll have your vegetable garden and don’t be too optimistic in the amount of vegetables you plan to plant. Think of spacing, as you don’t want your roots to choke each other.
Spring is renowned for its unpredictable weather conditions, so wait 48 hours to plant anything after rainfall, as too much water will suffocate your plants.
Create A Focal Point
If you don’t have a focal point in your garden, like a patio or seating area, why not make this season the time to invest in some garden furniture? To save money, you can always use your conservatory furniture outside on warm days, because as we all know, UK weather is not the most predictable!
The Finishing Touches
If there are any jobs you’ve been putting off for months, get them done now to really finish off the look of your garden in time for Spring. Fix any fences or gates, and during dry periods, treat any wood garden structures with a wood preservative. Also, consider giving your gardening tools a clean and a sharpen to motivate productive gardening all through the year!
Our guest blogger is Zoe Williams, an avid blogger and experienced copywriter from the UK. Zoe is currently writing for conservatory furniture specialists 2Furnish, and you can tweet your thoughts on this article to @servicemagic or @bloggingstyle.