• Mow the lawn up to once a week unless there are droughts.
• Deadhead flowers regularly to encourage new blooms.
• Water accordingly and check whether plants are drying out. New plantings, containers and hanging baskets most need an extra splash of water during dry periods.
• Weed out deep rooted perennials and catch annual weeds before they set seed and spread further.
• Feed plants and lawns with plant feed, comfrey or nettle tea to encourage lush, green growth, (every couple of weeks).
• Mulch wherever there is bare soil to suppress the weeds.
• Leave water out for birds and bugs – in mid-summer water supplies often dry out.
• Label your herbaceous perennials now before they die back, if you are planning to redesign the border, so that you know what to save and what to get rid of.
The first flush of early spring risers such as Daffodil, Crocus and Tulips are beginning to bloom.
If you haven’t planted yours already, it’s not too late to plant bulbs such as Cyclamen, Lilly, Gladiolus and Begonia for a summer/autumn display.
Spring is also the time to start sowing vegetable and perennial seeds and seedlings for show stopping borders in summer, (more tender plants should wait until the last frosts have passed).
Other activities include:
Cutting the lawn – the first few cuts on your highest setting, then every two weeks on a medium cut – grass dosen’t like to be cut too short!
Covering soil with a mulch and adding granular fertilizer to feed soil.
Checking for pests and diseases and removing before it infects the rest of plant.
Pruning back late flowering shurbs and winter stems.
Make bug and insect hotels.
Top up bird feeders.
Cut hedges before the nesting season.
Whatever the activity, why not use any excuse to get out and enjoy your garden!
