Spring Gardening

Our top tips for getting your garden spring time ready

Have a general tidy up

The first step is ensuring any debris, dead leaves or dead plants are removed from the garden. Don’t be afraid to rip out a fair amount. The bare garden might look sad, but there’s no point trying to save plants which are already dead. So put on your gardening gloves, fetch a kneeling pad, and start tidying.

Prune your shrubs

The end of winter is a great time to prune certain shrubs and bushes, such as flowering trees, shrubs, vines, evergreens and perennials.

Pruning involves cutting back and removing certain parts of a plant, such as branches, bulbs or roots. It occurs when the plant is outgrowing its space, begins to look messy or only parts of it are dead and can be removed while the rest can be saved.

The tools you’ll need are hand pruners, loppers and a pruning saw. Take a look at the below video for a guide to pruning.

Prepare soil

Soil can become hard and compact over the winter due to the cold weather. To loosen it up again, use a sharp spade or tiler. Add compost, as this will improve the soils texture, nutrient content and moisture-retention. Then rake the soil, and add a small amount of water, to make it the perfect base to grow spring plants and flowers.

Plant new bulbs

Planting bulbs is a very straight-forward process once you’ve prepped your garden accordingly. Most bulbs come with planting depth guidance but in principle, dig a deep hole, place the bulb, water thoroughly and cover. Just ensure the crown is at soil level so the plant can pierce through.

One thing to consider is spacing – make sure each bulb isn’t too close to another, otherwise your garden might start to look a little over crowded.

If you’ve just moved into a new build home, this is the stage where you can start to shape how you want your garden to look.

Water and keep check of your garden

It’s important to keep an eye on your garden to make sure your soil stays in a good condition, and plants are healthy when growing. Be sure to keep watering and use a plant fertiliser monthly.

If you follow these tips this spring, then your garden will look beautiful in no time.