This year January and February has been outrageous for bad weather. It is soul destroying to see your much loved garden (and property) destroyed in a matter of moments after years of effort and care.
My time of late has been spent covered in mud helping others repair and renew fences along with lots of planning and generally trying to restore much loved spaces back to their former glory.
Let’s all hope that the month of March is considerably less windier and wetter so you can get on with planning and planting in readiness for the summer.
Here is a list of things that you can do in March to help in preparing for Spring.
1. Prepare vegetable seed beds & sow, making sure they have sufficient cover from any lingering bad weather
2. Netting fruit and veg is a must to keep the birds from attacking and destroying your work
3. Prune back winter-flowering shrubs that have finished flowering
4. Lift and divide bulbs such as snowdrops etc
5. Prune Wisteria and Cornus (dogwood) and Salix (willow)
6. Prune the hardy evergreen hedges
7. Prune conservatory or wall climbers
8. Cut back any deciduous grasses left uncut over the winter months
9. plant seedlings indoors or in a green house, conservatory or any indoor space
10. Clean pond filters & pumps and any unwanted materials in the pond and start feeding the fish
11. Mow the lawn on dry days and only if needed
12. Nuisance Weeds start to grow again and need to be dealt with before they get out of hand so keep an eye out here.
13. Refresh your pots and containers with a top layer of compost
14. Plant out summer flowering bulbs and protect young shoots from the dreaded slugs
15. Maintenance – clean walls and paths to remove dirt and algae. Scrub your watering can to remove fungus so you do not inadvertently infect your precious plants with fungal infections. treat your fencing and sleeper raised borders with an appropriate treatment. (Creosote) is ill advised and now illegal.
For jobs with children – take the kids to a Garden Centre to buy some seeds and bulbs along with a few trays and potting compost. Sow the seeds indoors and make a sweet pea wigwam with the kids outside using cheap canes or even wood and branches from you freshly pruned trees. Place in the sunniest part of the garden. Plant out the seedlings once they have established themselves.
Other plants that are great for early spring to plant out now are Oriental Poppies or Geraniums (these are herbaceous perennials). Hardy annuals can be sown now in pots or modules to provide colour in the garden. In mild and sheltered areas you can sow directly outside now.
Plant out in drifts of different seeds to give a more natural look. Perhaps as reference you can look up Gertrude Jekyll. A talented British horticulturist, garden designer, artist and writer who created magical informal gardens. These are my favorite style. Next month we will tackle small spaces, urban gardening and cool projects for adults and children to do together.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Dave, from Garden Design Services has been madly keen on gardening for as long as he can remember. He decided to start a business in landscaping at the request of friends and family who quite simply said “I was mad not too” “The garden is a most valuable space, and I feel it is quite important to have a space that you can thoroughly relax in and enjoy”. If you need help in enjoying your garden then give Dave a call on 01322 559 660 or 07780 461 148
_______________________________________________________________________________
Submit your review | |