With Spring just around the corner, we can at last welcome the lengthening of days, the re-appearance of verdant leaves and the blooming of new life after the relative drear and discomfort of the Winter season. Our gardens are a haven, and Spring sees them truly come into their own – but to get the most out of your garden, you will need to put a little preparatory work in. Here are four simple tips to prepare your garden for Spring.
Spring-Clean Your Shed
Before you make any major moves with regard to your garden, you should devote some time to clearing out and re-organizing your shed – or, if you don’t have one, organizing your tools and gardening equipment wherever they may be. A season of disuse can result in poorly maintained equipment, as well as difficulty remembering exactly where everything is. Investing in a new tool chest can make a serious difference in your equipment storage efforts, and make it easier to access the things you need as you embark on tidying up your garden proper; a simple tub of grease can also go a long way, helping you unstick moving parts and re-condition equipment that may have frozen up over the colder months and making your job far easier as a result.
Get Weeding
Even though the Winter is generally a period of slow growth for vegetation, weeds can still ingratiate themselves into your planters and flowerbeds. With the warmer weather fast approaching, now is the time to evict them, and ensure your plants have the room and nutrients they need to grow properly. It might be tempting to leave dead debris, such as leaves or dead weeds, but these can frustrate growth by wicking sunlight away from the soil beneath. Everything must go!
Prune Your Plants
Now that your soil beds are clear and clean, you can turn your attention to pruning your plants, shrubs and trees. As the Winter ends, trees and shrubs will begin to make efforts at growth; catching dead branches or shoots before they bud can help you keep your tree in shape, and prevent inefficient energy use growing branches where you do not want them. This activity requires more care and attention than it might seem. Cutting buds from flora such as fruit trees can result in a poor yield due to plant stress, and careless pruning can introduce disease!
Make Room for Your Perennials
An arduous task, for sure, but a worthwhile one for the visual display alone! Your perennials will grow extensively in the Spring, and bloom in the most beautiful way – but this growth and bloom can result in intense competition and crowding between plants, lessening the display significantly. Carefully dig out each perennial in turn, and re-plant with wider empty space between each plant in mind. This way, they can grow unopposed, and you can get the most out of your flowering plants.
