Spring Gardening Tips

1) Clear your paths – This isn’t the most enjoyable of garden tasks, but it is essential. Weeds and moss will have taken hold in cracks between paving stones. If you don’t want loose paving stones, then now is the time to start clearing those cracks. Use a stiff brush, a trowel and some salt water and get scrubbing.

2) Clean up – Your garden will inevitably need a tidy up after taking a winter battering.  The wind and the rain may have caused your empty plant pots to be damaged whilst being blown about. Any weeds that have taken hold will need to be removed, and then mulch your top layer of soil with manure, compost or ashes.

3) Cut the grass – The smell of early spring grass cuttings can be intoxicating and generally heralds the first days of spring for many people. As soon as you get a nice day, get out onto your lawn and give it a good trim and feed.

4) Gather your leaves – Collect the leaves that will be unavoidably be strewn across your garden and bag them up. Pierce with holes and place the bags in a corner of the garden. By summer you will have a nice bag of leaf mould which can then be spread on your lawn as a conditioner.

5) Pack down your roots – The elements, primarily the wind and ground frost can lift roots out of the ground. Pack these back down to give your plants the best chance of survival.

6) Remove your old vegetable crops – Preparing your seedbeds is essential. Fertilise the soil ready for sowing this year’s crops.

7) Plant trees and shrubs – The ground should soon be soft enough to plant your shrubs. This time of year is the key time to get your shrubs established for a long growing season, before next year’s winter

8) Sow summer plants – Plant your marigolds and busy lizzies in your greenhouse in early spring. By late spring/early summer they should be ready to transfer outdoors for the perfect bloom.

Good luck and happy gardening!

The post Spring Gardening Tips appeared first on Gabriel Ash - Gardeners Corner.