Helpful & Easy Spring Gardening Tips for an Excellent Summer

The days are getting longer which means the joys of spring aren’t too far away and we can soon get back in the garden. Spring is an essential season for gardeners with plenty of jobs to get done before the weather gets hot and dry.

We’ve put together our top spring gardening tips to make sure your garden looks its best for the summertime, allowing you to enjoy the beauty of your outdoor space whilst sitting back and relaxing in the sunshine.

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Spring Clean

The first of our spring gardening tips is to give your garden a thorough spring clean. Debris often accumulates over the winter months so, before anything else, you’ll want to ensure your garden is cleared of any unwanted garden waste. This includes raking leaves, clearing up fallen flowers, pruning plants, and pulling weeds.

To give your flowers the best chance of a healthy bloom, make sure your flower beds aren’t clogged up with plant debris. Keeping it clear of garden waste will not only deter plant diseases and pests, it’ll also aid in keeping your soil healthy and aerated.

If you have a pond in your back garden, give it a thorough clean after the worst of the winter has passed. You’ll also want to clean your bird feeders and bird baths using a weak cleaning solution. A solution that’s one part bleach to nine parts water will effectively clean your bird bath and feeders without being harmful to birds.

The quickest way to remove any dirt or moss from your patio or decking is to use a pressure washer. If you do use a pressure washer to clean your decking, make sure the setting isn’t too high and the nozzle isn’t too close to the surface or it could cause damage to the wood.

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Spruce up Garden Furniture

To ensure your garden is looking its best in time for summer, take the opportunity to assess your garden furniture and what needs doing during the spring period.

For those with wooden furniture, check for weather damage, rot, paint chips, and general dirt and grime. Cleaning your wooden furniture in spring will make it look fresh for summer time but wait until the end of summer to treat it. Our wooden garden products are all pressure treated, meaning they’re more resistant to weather damage and decay; however, if you want your wooden furniture to last even longer and keep it looking new, we recommend treating it annually.

If you have metal furniture, make sure to check for any rust. Even if your set is rust-resistant like all of our metal furniture sets, small amounts of rust will naturally occur over time. Lightly brush off any rust with a wire brush and then treat it with an appropriate varnish or, if it’s painted, touch it up with a matching metal paint. If your metal furniture is made from steel and any scratches are exposing the metal, treat these to prevent any rust setting in. Use quality oil such as WD40 on metal hinges to stop stiffness and keep them moving fluidly.

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Lawn Care

After neglecting your lawn over winter, it’s time to get your long-handled tools and lawnmower out of the shed and give your lawn some much-needed attention. At the beginning of spring, gently rake your grass to loosen the soil and pull up weeds. Once raked, use a gardening fork to pierce the soil sporadically across the lawn, with a particular focus on patchy areas. Sprinkle your lawn with fertiliser and grass seed to encourage healthy grass to grow in time for summer.

When mowing your grass in early spring, mow it shorter than you normally would – this will ensure the new grass that grows has strength and rigidity, setting the ideal foundation for a perfect summer lawn. However, make sure not to cut it below around 20mm – if the blades of grass are cut too short then weed seeds will have a better chance of reaching the bare soil and germinating, causing more work in the long run.

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Get Planting

With the miserable weather due to subside, you can start to plant your early spring flowers, ready to bring colour back into your garden. One of our fun spring gardening tips is to get experimental; early spring is the perfect time to be adventurous with new plants that you’ve previously felt apprehensive to try out. Whilst the weather is milder but the soil is still moist from winter, conditions are ideal for planting a seed you haven’t tried before.

The easiest and most popular flowers to plant in early spring are bulbs. Our favourite bulbs to plant in spring are:

• Crocuses
• Daffodils
• Tulips
• Gladioli
• Snowdrops
• Freesias

For those who want to try out a climbing plant, clematis vine is a beautiful flower that’s best planted in early spring. We think this stunning flower looks beautiful against our white trellis planter.

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Divide Perennials

Dividing your perennials is one of the most essential spring gardening tips to ensure that they aren’t competing for space, nutrients, and moisture. By dividing your perennials, you’ll be giving them the best chance at a successful and healthy bloom.

You’ll want to divide your summer and autumn blooming perennials in spring to ensure any damage is restored and their roots are re-established by the winter months. To stop your plants from drying out, choose a day that’s cool and cloudy and divide them at a potting bench positioned in a well shaded spot.

To give your divided perennials a strong start, ensure they’re well watered a day before digging them up and regularly water them once they’re replanted.

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Growing Veg

Spring is a good time to start growing vegetables which thrive in cooler weather. The best vegetables to grow in springtime are lettuces, carrots, spinach, Brussels sprouts, and beetroot.

Sow these vegetables in late March to early April when the temperature has increased a little and there’s no more frost on the ground. To avoid ingesting chemicals, use organic compost and fertiliser for your veggies.

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Mulch

Mid-to-late springtime is ideal for laying down a fresh layer of mulch as the soil is moist but not too cold. Before laying down the mulch, ensure the soil is moist and all weeds have been removed. Laying down fresh mulch in spring time will retain the moisture in your soil throughout summer, helping your plants to survive any hot and dry weather.

Biodegradable mulch is the best option for your plants. As the mulch breaks down, nutrients will be released into the soil which improve the health and quality of your plants. The ideal thickness of biodegradable mulch is between 5cm and 7.5cm.

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Have you discovered any handy spring gardening tips that are now an essential part of your gardening routine? Let us know in the comments if you have any tips or tricks that you do every spring time without fail.

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