Get Ready for Spring in the Garden

The signs of spring are well and truly showing: heart-warming sun rays and the first blossoming of spring flowers have sprung in your gardens. Mind you we didn’t have a winter 2019/2020, but more of an extended autumn.

This aside, your garden is waking up from its hibernation and it will welcome a little fuel. So, get on with it, if you want your garden to be ready before the temperature rises. We have of course been in a mini lock down, due to Coronavirus and the weather has been great! Well it would be, we have all been quarantined! When it’s over, we will still see if it’s great weather. Below, will give you some spring gardening tips on how to get started and ready for the year!

Did you comply with your gardening duties during the winter? If yes, then goody gumdrops! If not; you are probably one out of many. If you relate to the latter, your garden definitely needs a make-over. Get rid of fallen leaves, fallen debris (like twigs, branches) and weeds to start with a clean slate. This is also a great time to sharpen your garden tools, so that they are ready when needed for action.

Spring is the perfect time to revitalise the soil, which has probably dried out after winter. You could add moisture using compost, chicken pellets, or manure, for example. This will also increase the life of your plants and the health of your soil. It will give the soil that encouragement to react with your plant life in your garden.

The third on the list of spring gardening tips is to use some planning. Are you keen on transforming your backyard into a vegetable garden? Do you want to create your own cut-flower garden? Or a mixture of both? Once you have made a decision, you have to figure out which garden system suits you best:

• Row gardening: a classic and reliable system that offers a very clean look
• Container gardening: perfect for those who don’t have a lot of space
• Raised bed gardening: to ensure a longer growing season
• Square foot gardening: for gardeners in urban areas, who don’t have a lot of space to work with

Or just use your own creativity and imagination. Personally, I don’t like symmetry in the garden, as nature never intended anything to be in symmetry.  

Once you have taken care of the old plants and got the garden in shape, it’s time to invest in something new. Do you choose long-living perennials, spring plants, or summer bulbs? A good thing to do in spring is planting bare-rooted plants, like top fruit, soft fruit, daylilies, roses, or any trees and shrubs. If possible, choose a cool, cloudy day and aim to get it done.

Coffee grounds are great to give your plants an early boost. It contains nitrogen, which stimulates plant and vegetable growth. Another way of nourishing your plants is by (re)using cooled down cooking water from spaghetti, or vegetables. Washing away those vitamins and minerals would be such a waste! And did you know that Chamomile tea is a great all-natural way to avoid bacterial and fungal infections? Trust me it works.

Don’t forget the nature that visit your garden, on dry warm days, leave the garden shed open, so that hibernating butterflies and bees can have a clear life to flight again as they wake up.

If you have bird feeders, give them a good clean and the same for bird baths and drinkers, make sure they are cleaned and algae free, in warm weather, birds will appreciate your water supply.

Nest boxes should be placed up in January and ready for spring birds looking for nest sites. Do not disturb the nest box at all in the spring time and summer months, just observe from a safe distance.

If you are lucky enough to have hedgehogs visit your garden, you can give them a helping meal after waking up from hibernation, with a small bowl of cat food, not so much fish based, but a little cat food will be welcomed by hedgehogs as they wake up hungry and gets them set for foraging for their own food. If you scarify your lawn and rid the moss from it, leave out the dried moss for the birds to use for nesting.

©Rob Knowlittle, November 2020 @drjohngardening