11 Mar Spring gardening jobs
Hopefully the spring weather will draw you out into the garden for some fresh air and some headspace. Here are some spring gardening jobs to help make your garden more beautiful this year.
- Weeding and Mulching
- Refreshing Pots and Planters
- Spruce Up Furniture and Fences
- Clean Decking and Hard Surfaces
- Lawn care
- Make Your Planting Plans
- Redesign areas that aren’t working well
Weeding and Mulching
It’s surprising what grows in the winter. Weeds never cease to amaze me with their resilience. Spring is the very best time to get them under control.
Pull out all unwanted plants before they get too strong. Then apply a nice layer of mulch to stop annual weeds from germinating as the soil warms up. (Most annual weeds need sunlight to germinate. Block the sun and the seeds will stay dormant)
There are some beautiful options for mulch. Bark or woodchip is cost effective and will add to soil nutrients over time. But why not consider gravel or aggregates? There is a surprising range of colours. From almost white, through greys, beiges, ochres, pinkish tones and right through to almost black. Think about the colours already in your garden and how you can complement them.
Loving the slate mulch used in this planting scheme. It sets the foliage off a treat and is substantial enough to stay put in heavy rain.
I can’t wait to see this garden in summer once the plants have filled out a it more.
Pots and Planters
A speedy way to brighten up a dull spot in the spring garden is to fill some planters with colour and or texture.
Be brave. Try something different and remember you don’t have to rely on flowers for interest. Use coloured or unusual containers. Think about foliage colours and textures. Consider interestingly shaped branches and maybe add lighting or accessories.
This DIY living wall is a relatively low cost weekend project. Use seasonal flowers or plant herbs and salad leaves for an edible green wall.
If you prefer a more sophisticated look, you could swap the coloured pots for steel ones.
Just remember that pots need drainage and plants need to be watered – don’t make your plant wall too high to reach with a watering can!
Furniture and Fences
If winter has taken its toll and left fences looking battered and furniture looking sad it’s time for some refurbishment.
If your fence is broken or just plain uninspiring, think about replacing it with something beautiful. Hedges are great for wildlife or you can install decorative screens as an alternative.
This blue grass screen is an admiral alternative to fencing panels.
Decking and Surfaces
Algae loves winter weather but we don’t love algae. It creates slippery surfaces and makes a garden look unloved. Use a proprietary cleaner to get rid of the stuff. Bleach is not a good idea – it’s very damaging to the environment and over time the chemicals in it break down to substances that algae feeds on. So using bleach is counter-productive.
Lawncare
Your lawn may not be the focal point of your garden but it sets the scene for all of the other features. If the lawn is unloved the whole garden looks tired.
Take the time this spring to feed your lawn, make sure the edges are tidy and overseed any bare patches.
For more spring lawn care tips, have a look at the Premier Lawns website.
The wildlife garden
Wildlife is busiest and most visible in spring and summer. If you want to attract more birds, butterflies, hedgehogs, bees and other creatures into your garden, these spring gardening jobs will help
- Plant a wide variety of flowers and foliage to create habitat and provide food.
- Don’t forget to include climbing plants, trees and shrubs as well as herbaceous perennial plants.
- A Wildflower patch is a great way to attract butterflies and bees.
- Hedges provide shelter and nesting space. Plant new hedges as soon as possible and avoid hedge trimming during spring and summer.
- Create a log pile in a quiet corner of the garden to support the critters that birds and frogs love to eat.
- Put up some nesting boxes for birds and for solitary bees.
- Probably the most important element in a wildlife garden is water. Create a pond.
If you have the room for a wildlife pond, it’s a great investment and will add interest all year round.
Find out how this wildlife pond near Frinton on Sea was created from an unloved water feature
Improve under-performing parts of your garden
If last year you were underwhelmed with parts of your garden, spring is the ideal time to make changes so that you can improve the outlook for this year.
Do you need a bigger patio, more seating? More shade or more colour? Or maybe you don’t know where to start. Sometimes a fresh pair of eyes can help. So Why not talk to a garden designer for some inspiration?
The Tapestry Design Studios Team offer an Inspiration package. One of our designers will visit you in your garden and spend an hour or so finding out about your gardening challenges and offering suggestions for how you could make better use of the space. We can also offer a partial design – where we concentrate on the one area of your garden that is not performing well.
Priced from just £145*, make a consultation with a garden designer one of your spring gardening jobs.
Get in touch with the Tapestry Design Studios team
Useful articles to read
Get inspired with our portfolio of projects
How to use colour in your garden
*price correct at the time of writing but may be subject to change
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