Get Spring Ready with our Gardening Advice
After a somewhat grey, cold and dreary Winter, we’re finally approaching the Spring season, and it’s certainly a great time to get the garden ready for warmer days, barbecues or even just lounging in the sun with friends. Here at Pantry & Patio, we want to help you get the garden ready and healthy again, so here’s our list of top gardening tips for the Spring season.
Survey and Plan
Make note of tree limbs that need to be removed, and hire an arborist to maintain larger trees. Cut down perennials and toss it into the compost pile for later use. Rake mulch from bulb-planted beds before foliage emerges, and refresh the mulch in other planting areas after the soil warms.
Tuning Up
Keeping a well-stocked and well-maintained collection of tools is key to gardening success, and after a period of neglect, it’s important to make sure your gardening tools are fit for service. Be sure to clean up your tools, sharpen any blades such as on trimmers, clipps and mowers, grease creaky hinges and replace any broken parts, and if you have any irreparable tools, be sure to replace them in time for the season – we have a great range of tools and equipment available on our website!
Time to Mow
If you have a lawn mower or a leaf blower, you’ll need to make sure they’re ready for safe use – this might involve sending them in to the manufacturer for servicing, but if you think you can do it yourself and have the right tools, sharpen the mower blades at home. Refill the motor with oil and lubricate other moving parts, and where necessary, replace spark plugs.
Pruning
To improve the health of woody plants, remove dead, damaged and diseased branches; summer-blooming shrubs, such as hydrangea and roses, should be thinned and trimmed (with the exception of old-fashioned once bloomers). Once they have flowered and resumed growth, you should prune spring-blooming shrubs and cold-damaged wood.
Make Your Beds
Clear your planting area of sod, weeds and debris as soon as soil can be worked. Spread a 4-inch thick layer of compost or manure onto your bed, and cultivate to 10 to 12 inches with a spading fork.
Planting & Fertilising
Choose a cool, cloudy day to start planting, and make sure you plant your bare-root trees, shrubs and perennials by early Spring. For plants grown in containers, transplant them to your beds any time except midsummer, ensuring you water them thoroughly. Finally, ensure you sow seeds of cool-season flowers like sweet peas, poppies and calendula, and vegetables such as lettuce, parsley and spinach.
Apply balanced fertiliser around trees and shrubs, as soon as new growth appears. High-acid fertiliser is appropriate for acid-loving shrubs such as azaleas and camellias; be sure to fertilise perennials when active growth resumes.
Hopefully, this list will get you well on your way to preparing your garden for Spring and Summer, making your plants, flowers and lawns look healthy and beautiful for the seasons ahead. We hope you enjoyed the read, and have fun getting out into the garden this weekend!
