With Spring upon us, it’s time to start work in the garden, there is quite a bit to do to get your outdoor space ready for the warmer weather. But where do you start? Here are some of our top tips:
1. Start By Clearing the Garden
After the rain, wind and the odd flurry of snow this winter, your garden probably isn’t looking its best. Now is the perfect time to clear up all the leaf and branch debris, give the soil a refresh by turning it over and prepare it for new plants with some compost.
You’ll find with the slightly warmer weather that weeds begin to pop up. It’s a good idea to get on top of these from the outset.
Check out these great gardening tips from the National Trust.
2. Decide What to Plant
Garden centres around the country are usually very busy at this time of year. They’ll have a whole host of early season plants in pots ready for you to plant. If you want to add quick and easy colour to your garden for the summer months, try planting Sweet Peas and to encourage bees to your garden plant Lavender. Both are relatively easy to grow and will look and smell wonderful.
3. Create a Children’s Garden
Most children relish helping in the garden. A vegetable patch is easy to set up and maintain and will give them a hobby for the whole of Spring, Summer and into the Autumn months. First time planters? Start with strawberries, carrots, beetroot, broccoli or lettuce.
4. Segregated Seating Areas
If you want to create a focal point for your garden, somewhere you can sit and be social over the late Spring and Summer, try adding a separate seating area. From wonderful all weather wooden seating, artistic stone and cast-iron benches to simple chair and table arrangements, there are plenty of options to choose from, ensuring your garden will be used often over the warmer seasons. There are some great seating ideas on this article from lovethegarden.com
5. Build a Living Wall
Living walls or vertical gardens are becoming quite popular, especially in gardens where there is limited space. Basically, all you do is plant up rather than across the garden. If you have a fence or a wall of your home, you can opt for simple plantings in wall pots to create a colourful vertical garden. Take a look at this article from Country Garden for vertical garden inspiration.
6. Paved Gardens
One way to spruce up a paved garden and add a splash of colour is to put in some pots and containers of various sizes. This is particularly good if your garden is largely paved over or is shaded at different times of the year. Planters and pots are a great mobile solution. For a stunning effect with low maintenance, add a rockery with some hardy, but colourful alpines. This rockery guide from Fantastic Gardeners blog should get you started.
7. Get Out the Barbecue
It may be a tad early for some, but we can get some nice warm days during the Spring months. Break out the barbecue, give it a good clean and make sure it’s ready to go on a moment’s notice.
8. Green Gardening
Being “Green” in the garden can mean anything from choosing less harmful pesticides and weed killers, to cultivating your own compost heap, adding a water butt and using solar lights instead of electric ones, to choosing to plant perennials rather than annual plants. There are plenty of resources online to help you go Green including some very useful information from Garden Organic.
9. Build a Habitat for Wildlife
There’s been a lot in the news about how our wildlife is struggling, from bees to hedgehogs. It’s easy to turn your garden into a wildlife haven for birds, insects and other animals. Start by taking a look at this guide from the RSPB. Make it fun for children by documenting your visitors.
10. Add Some Atmospheric Lighting
Finally, now that the nights are drawing out, how about adding some lighting to your garden to extend your enjoyment of your garden into the evenings? You can get some beautiful solar lights and lanterns to adorn the walls, pergola’s and fences. If you have trees in your garden, try stringing solar fairy lights through the branches it gives a magical effect.
