The winter months have finally passed and the blessed date of March 22nd has arrived. This brings Spring to Britain and it’s the best time to get around the garden and start to tidy things up and prepare for the coming summer months. What is the best approach to this? As with everything in the garden, planning is everything.
Here’s a quick list of all the jobs that need doing as a priority.
Mow the lawn. Your grass is an incredibly hardy plant and its ability to survive through the cold winter months should never be underestimated. However, as soon as the warmer air comes in, and the rain showers start, the grass will start to grow at a great rate. Cutting it back as soon as we get a dry spell, and then continuing to cut at regular intervals, will give you a nice tidy lawn.
Removing weeds. One of the best things about the winter period is that weed growth is stifled. However, as with the grass example above, they will soon start growing again. The spores that have laid dormant under the soil will react to the warmer temperatures and start to break the surface. The trick here is to get in early and not let the weeds establish themselves. You could be playing catchup for the rest of the year trying to keep them all back.
Preparing the ground. If you have big, or small plans for the garden this year then Springtime is the best opportunity to get everything ready. The ground should now be a bit more tillable. Forking the soil is the first step. If you want to reduce the number of weeds that come through, then a layer of groundsheet is definitely required. This gives you the time to decide what flowers and shrubs are going into the plot you’ve created.
Making raised beds. Perhaps this is the year that you finally get those raised beds put in. If you’re looking for a quick and effective way to make the garden look a professional and tidy place then this is a great way to do it. Treated wood or thick railway sleepers can transform the Garden almost instantly. Another positive is if you build them high enough then you don’t have to spend so much time bending over to work on the