Gardening

Spring into the garden

The chill in the air is dissipating, new shoots are appearing on trees and buds have burst from the ground, spring has made a welcome arrival. Here are a few tips for how to get your garden looking and performing at its best this season.

Spring clean

Have a tidy-up around the garden. Rake up dead leaves, pull weeds, or spray with organic weed killer where necessary. Mow the lawns, cut the edges and hedges, and put down fresh ground cover such as pea straw, bark or compost. Sow new lawns or add grass seed to bare patches. Spring provides the optimum conditions for grass growth. These small steps will make a big difference to the look and feel of your garden and will make you excited to spend time outdoors again.

Prepare the vegetable garden

Spring is the time of year to ensure your soil is in top condition, ready for seeds and seedlings. Layer organic materials and mulch into your soil, this might be compost, manure and shredded dried leaves. Organic matter will add nutrients to the soil and will help to keep it moist come summer. Because we can still be surprised by frosts in early spring, be cautious when planting seedlings. Vegetable seedlings that can be planted in early spring are beetroot, broccoli, celery, lettuce, potatoes, spinach, and spring onions. Peas, beans, and carrots can be planted from seed. Add quarter-strength fertilizer around seedlings and water it in well. Protect young seedlings from slugs and snails. Also, some seeds can be started earlier, indoors, to get a head start on the growing season.

Fortify your fruit trees

Citrus trees have come to the end of their fruiting season by spring. Replenish the nutrients in citrus trees with liquid fertiliser and add plenty of mulch to their bases to help keep them hydrated. Check over your fruit trees, prune back any side shoots on apple trees, thin out fruit sets and spray stone fruit trees with non-toxic copper spray to prevent leaf curl, common at this time of year. If you haven’t planted your strawberry plants yet, make sure to get them in the ground now. For strawberry-loving households, the general rule of thumb is five plants per family member. Fertilise with a strawberry-specific liquid fertiliser.

Add a pop of colour

Revitalise your flowerpots with fresh soil, if the potting soil is old it may be depleted of nutrients. Add new flower plants such as poppies, carnations, pansies, petunias and sweet peas. Plant summer bulbs such as gladioli, dahlia, and begonias, make sure to add bulb food to the soil as you plant. Plant new perennials, divide larger existing perennials and replant. Perennials to plant at this time of the year are lavender, agapanthus, fuchsia and geraniums – all great for adding colour and life to your garden.