With winter coming to an end, it’s time to spruce up your garden.
Most gardeners would agree that spring is the best time in the garden. The air is warm, the soil is ripe for planting and the lawn is springing back to life too. But so are the weeds!
So, get those gardening gloves on, follow our tips now and you’ll have a thriving garden over the months ahead.
Clean up your act
If things are looking a bit sad and untidy after winter, now’s the time to get everything shipshape again.
Hose down dirty and moss-covered surfaces and sweep and rake up any leaves and debris from paths and add to your compost bin. Also remove any weeds growing where they shouldn’t be, like on the lawn, in-between paving or in garden beds. They ruin the look of your home and garden and steal valuable water and nutrients from your plants. Common culprits include thistles, cape weed and nutgrass. Hand-pull small infestations, ensuring you remove roots and all. If that’s not possible, use a weedkiller, taking care when spraying near other plants. For lawns, choose a selective herbicide suitable for your grass type.
Also trim path edges with a spade or whipper snipper. Also replace any kinking or cracked hoses and fittings, flush out your watering system, clean and oil your garden tools – and get those secateurs sharpened.
Keep it green.
The lawn is an essential part of most backyards. It’s where the kids and pets play and the adults kick back and relax. So keep it looking lush and green by feeding now with a lawn fertiliser. Never remove more than a third of the leaf blade when mowing, and always finish by edging the lawn. Use a whipper snipper or half-moon edge to give it a beautifully manicured look.
Prune back old growth.
With your newly sharpened tools, now is the perfect time to cut away any dead wood and trim back any leggy growth from shrubs and trees, allowing new shoots and buds all the space and light they need to get going for spring and summer. Also follow with a feed of organic fertiliser.
Nourish the soil
Dig in lots of well-rotted manure or compost and add a sprinkle of organic fertiliser in your garden beds like chook poo pellets. This is especially important when you’re going to spread mulch, since, useful as it is, mulch tends to deplete the soil of nutrients as it breaks down.
Add mulch
Summer is just around the corner, so once your soil is well-nourished and moist, add a thick layer of mulch around plants to conserve that moisture and save yourself time and money on the watering front, as well as keeping weeds to a minimum. Take care to leave an un-mulched margin around stems and trunks, to prevent rot.
Add new plants
With the weather warming up, it’s the perfect time for planting, so take a trip to your local garden centre and stock up on all the wonderful new plants and seedlings for a riot of summer colour. So why not buy some potted colour from nurseries and use it to fill in bare spots around garden beds.
Growing your own herbs and vegetables is also a fabulous way to access fresh ingredients while reducing food miles and cutting the grocery bill. The key to good growth is soil preparation. So add some compost and aged manure to the soil and mix in well. or fill pots and containers with premium potting mix if you don’t have a plot.
Sow seeds direct where you want them to grow or sow into trays or punnets and transplant them when ready. Alternatively, skip this step and buy advanced seedlings from your local nursery. The latter option is more costly but can save you time. Whichever method you choose, continue to sow and grow throughout the season to maximise the harvest window, and water and feed regularly.