Hearts & Home

As the sun starts to show its face and the winter days to spring, we’re all assessing the garden and making plans for the warm summer months. Here’s what you will need to do before you get the BBQ out, or start planting those seeds!

1. The Big Clear-out

Months of neglect and terrible weather conditions leads to a garden full of debris, made up of dead sticks, twigs, leaves and rubbish! Your foot paths and lawns will be full of unwanted weeds and now is the time to get rid of them. Get your hands dirty, use a rake and a stiff brush to clear the area. Once you have raked, you will be able to see the areas that need de-weeding. Place all of the rubbish, dead twigs and weeds in one big pile. You can either take it to the local rubbish dump or (for a quick and easy solution) employ a man and van service to collect it for you. They’ll get rid of it in no time and allow you to focus on the next step.

2. Kill the Weeds

Weeds are every gardener’s worst nightmare. Make sure you get the right tools for the job and get the job done properly. Small handled tools, like trowels, are fantastic for dealing with most common weeds. For bigger weeds that have deep roots, try using a hoe to dig up the weed and cultivate the soil before the weed gets a chance to grow. Weed killers should be used only in areas that have dense weed growth as you may jeopardise the growth of the plants that you actually want to grow.

3.  Fertilize Your Garden

Once you have cleared and de-weeded your garden, you will be able to properly access the condition of your lawn. Most likely, after a long cold winter, it will need a lot of attention. Don’t neglect this stage as this is what will secure a successful bloom during the summer months.

Buy some quality manure and fertilizer from your local supplier and work it into the soil with a pitchfork and spade. This will provide the nutrients to grow beautiful plants and vegetables. Don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty at this point, get stuck in and enjoy being close to Mother Nature!

4. Borders

Nothing looks better than a well kept garden, complete with sharp lines between the lawn and the plant or flower areas. To get this look, use an edger-tool or a half-mooned spade to dig shallow troughs along the length of the garden. To keep straight lines simply attach a piece of string to wooden pegs and hammer them into the lawn. If you want to add that extra touch of class to your flower beds you can install permanent edging along the border lines with timber, stone or brick.

Remember, gardening is a labour of love and maintenance needs to be on-going throughout the year. Most important of all, make sure you enjoy your garden and all that it has to offer you.

Author Bio

When Ben isn’t obsessing over his garden, you’ll find him working at AnyJunk, who provide a quality garden and house clearance service.