Spring gardening tips: jobs to do in the garden

Keen to get your garden in good shape for the summer? Here are top spring gardening tips and jobs to do in the garden!

It might not feel much like spring at the moment – in fact, the only thing that’s likely to be bursting into life is the central heating. Still, even if we might not fancy going outside much ourselves, nature is currently out there working overtime. There’s a lot of preparation to do at this time of year if you want to enjoy your garden come the summer, and even a couple of hours can pay dividends later. So put on your warm jumper, some sturdy boots and a big coat (and put the kettle on for later), and head outside to see how the garden looks after the winter.

Spring gardening tips from Cosy Home

There are plenty of jobs to do in the garden in spring, but theses are top spring gardening tips to get you started.

• Frozen by frost and battered by rain, your soil might be in a bit of a sorry state at the moment. If it’s very wet, then you’ll have to leave it to dry out a bit as walking on it now can damage the structure. If it’s fairly well drained, though, you can start to work in some fertiliser ready for planting. Use the contents of your own compost heap if it’s ready, source some horse manure if you can (it needs to be rotted down for at least six months before use, so don’t use it fresh!) or get some organic fertiliser from the garden centre.
• If you have a greenhouse that’s been out of use over the winter, now’s the time to give it an overhaul. Clean all the glass, throw out any broken pots and make sure shelving units and potting tables are in good repair.
• If you’re growing vegetables this year, you can put out cloches or sheets of plastic now for a couple of weeks, to warm the soil up before you plant.
• Remove any weeds, as the longer you leave it the more they’ll get a foothold.
• You can start to plant a variety of plants now, including herbs, summer-flowering bulbs such as lilies and dahlias, as well as trees and shrubs. Anything tender might still need protecting from the frost, though. You can also start to sow seeds, but they’ll need to go in the greenhouse or on a windowsill.
• Overhaul any containers and pots. Do any plants need pruning, re-potting, fertiliser or even throwing away and replacing? Wash the pots themselves, as well.

• If you didn’t have time to prune last autumn, there’s still time to cut back any perennials that need it, such as roses and buddleia. This needs doing fairly quickly now, as once the new growth really gets a hold it will be much harder to see what you’re doing.

• Other jobs include cleaning and treating garden furniture ready for the summer, and cleaning stone paths. These have a tendency to get covered in green slime and get slippery over the winter, making them dangerous in wet weather. Depending on the area you have to clean, use hot water in a bucket with either some washing up liquid or a mild bleach solution, and scrub stones with either a hand brush or sweeping brush. If the slime is really thick, you might have to pour the bleach solution on and leave it to stand for a couple of hours before scrubbing. Once finished, rinse with clean water.

It may seem like a lot of hard work for little reward at this time of year, but when you’re sipping a cool G&T in the evening sun during the summer, surrounded by the scent of roses and lavender, it’ll all seem worthwhile.

All images (c) Pixabay

By Sara Walker.