Prepare your garden
for the Spring
Still a little cold, wet and
windy for gardening? Start
by ordering some seeds at
your local garden centre
or online, why not buy
some Lilies, Gladiolus or
Ranunculus, these can be
planted in early spring for a
colourful summer display.
Install water butts in your garden now to
collect seasonal rainfall. Not only does
this help the environment but rain water
is good for watering ericaceous plants
such as Camellias, Rhododendrons and
Blueberries. When installing a water
butt make sure it’s positioned below a
drainpipe to make the most of the rainfall.
Any weeds which appear in your garden
beds will be easiest to pull now, as the
roots are shallow, all gardens need a
good tidy up after the winter months
If you haven’t already then try setting up a
compost area in your garden. This could
simply be a ready-made compost bin or
you could build a compost bin yourself
using spare bits of wood. Not only will
you have somewhere to put your garden
waste but your plants will benefit from the
rich compost created when it all breaks
down! Make sure you have a good
mixture of grass clippings, vegetable
peelings, paper and woody pruning’s. To
help the process along you’ll need to turn
your compost with a garden fork each
month to keep it aerated.
Soil is ready for gardening once it is
free of ice crystals and crumbles easily.
Soil that is too wet is easily compacted,
reducing beneficial soil aeration.
Prune your fruit trees this will encourage
better growth and a more open habit that
keeps the trees healthy and makes it
easier to harvest the produce.
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Early spring plantings are vulnerable to
hard frost which can set in overnight.
If you expect a hard frost, cover
seedlings overnight with anything you
have on hand - an overturned bucket
or cardboard box (with a rock on top) or
large flower pot
By Lorna Pearce
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1 ire Metal Fruit Bowl
W
from M&S - £15
1 Watering can
from Amara - £39.95
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2 arden Kneeler
G
from Occa-Home - £18.95
3 arden fork and trowel
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from Cuckooland - £20
4 namel seed box
E
from Amara - £10
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Leather gardening gloves
from Homebase - £14.99
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