As the Garden Grows

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Preparing for Winter: Garden Maintenance tips

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The positive impression a great garden leaves on people visiting a home is something seldom equalled. Great gardens say as much about a home as the house does.

However, the fast-changing environment of a garden means gardening and maintenance go hand in hand . This is especially the case as we enter winter. The high-growth levels of a garden mean that you keep a landscape garden, landscaped you have to work on the area during the summer, while also prepare it for the colder weather. Nevertheless, it’s not as hard as it seems as you see from our basic gardening and maintenance tips to ensure your garden looks great throughout the year.

Plants

Some smart planting can make sure your garden remain bright all year round. Though, plants have certain needs and requirements, with a little know how it can be possible to keep everything in check. The simplest advice for landscape garden maintenance is to know what’s growing and how you should look after it.

Lawns require looking after and mowing is not often enough. During warm weather, grass needs water, and also needs care if you have had a specifically cold winter. Make sure to care for grass during summer, so it heads into the colder period of the year at its strongest.

Trees

Trees also need gardening and maintenance and pruning, dead wooding and keeping their shape is important, but also tough and often a danger without the right tools. Tree surgeons maybe your answer in such a scenario and help you ensure your tree stays healthy. The winter can

Decking

Decking is also something that needs to be maintained. Look into painting, or varnishing the wood and cleaning it with detergent. Even if, it’s not a plant, this is all part of good gardening. Weed the area around and clean any grime, or stains with your garden tool hire. Make sure that it is treated before winter as it can off be hazardous and slippy come colder weather.

Furniture

In a similar manner to that of decking, garden furniture can also be treated roughly by the weather. Cover them with waterproof covering, if they can’t be placed inside in the winter. Clean and look after them when the spring comes to make sure you get the most from them.

Fencing

Fencing is also something often overlooked, however requires a good check after winter to guarantee it is perfect. Replace any broken fencing and look after it, as a good, solid fence can really add aesthetically to your landscape garden.

Following these gardening maintenance tips now will warrant a healthy attractive garden come about later in the year.

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Cormac Reynolds writes for Best At Hire a UK company that provides garden equipment for rent.






Only gardening dabbling

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At this time of year (north of the Tropic of Cancer anyway) gardening usually slows down.  This is not without its compensations.  Keeping up does become less hectic.  Still, most of us do not want to really hibernate so what do we do to keep the show rolling forward?

For those of us with a large garden there is always something to do even it is just trying to keep it tidy by gathering up leaves and broken branches.  This is also the time of year to put most of any new spring bulbs into the ground.  For those of us with a small garden or a balcony a little thought can go a long way.  At this time of year we tend to be short of fresh items.  Growing a few herbs can do so much to liven up a meal without much effort.  Some of the hardier items can still be kept out of doors but others really must be kept indoors.  One word of caution, be very wary of bringing pots indoors if they have been left outside.  Insects tend to leave eggs in and around food that we like to eat.  Once the eggs come into the warmth they hatch and the resulting plague can be most unwelcome!  Of course going the other way has fewer problems and one really has to be wary of the frost in the spring.

One can have a splash of colour very cheaply by planting pansies, roses, gardenias or azaleas, in containers with compost out of doors.  These items can easily be obtained from your nearest gardening centre or even your local florist.  Throw in some cheap spring bulbs such as narcissus or daffodils and one can have a boost of colour just as the other plants are beginning to fade.

One can be a real enthusiast and start from seeds but if you are starting out it is more reliable to buy seedlings.  Nowadays just about every supermarket sells growing herbs such as parsley and basil which are beyond the seedling stage in pots.  If one wants the plant to keep on growing through the winter one should “pot up” into larger containers with good quality compost.  The plants should thrive on that for a few weeks if they are watered and have sufficient light but if you want them to thrive into the New Year and beyond you will have to give them some fertiliser.  Do harvest quite often as this helps the plant bring forth fresh growth.  Uncut and some of them will become a bit stringy.  With a bit of luck the plants will still be healthy at the end of spring and can be put into the ground outdoors for the summer!

Article written by London Florist – Flowers24hours.co.uk

 

Creating the Perfect Lawn From Seed

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The perfect lawn doesn’t just happen. Rather, it is the result of hard work, patience and common sense. However, as long as the basic rules are followed, even a novice can achieve excellent results.


One of the keys to a perfect lawn grown from seed is soil preparation. First, the site has to be dug over and cleared of any detritus, stones and weeds. Weeds fall into two categories – annual weeds and perennial weeds. Annual weeds are easy to clear as they can be got rid of by hoeing or just in the act of turning over the earth and disturbing the roots. Perennial weeds are, however, a different matter, and require more care. When digging over the site, take care to remove all traces of roots as well as obvious weeds such as dandelions. The reason for this is that if you leave just one bit of root, no matter how small, it will probably return with a vengeance a few months down  the line and spoil the look of your new lawn.

When you are satisfied the area is weed-free, you can set about ensuring that you have a level surface on which to sow the seed. If you are dealing with a large area, you may find it easier to mark it out into sections and do one at a time. However you do it, it is useful to have a spirit level that you can place wherever desired to check that you haven’t created any slopes and that any hollows or bumps have been evened out. The best tool to use for flattening and levelling is a garden rake, which can also be used to break down any lumps of earth to form the fine tilth that you require.

At this point, you can take a breather, as you need to leave the prepared bed for two to three weeks to allow any weeds to germinate. When they do, treat them with a weedkiller and rake off after a couple of days. Then, apply a base dressing comprising of a micro-granular or compound granular fertilizer and leave for a few more days.

Now it’s time to sow the seed. Sowing is a relatively simple business, provided you do it on a dry, windless day, but before you even buy your seed, bear in mind what your lawn is going to be used for. If it is a family lawn that is going to bear the brunt of any manner of indignities, you require a different type of seed to someone who is going to plant a lawn for a putting or bowling green. Make sure you get the right seed mix by going to a reputable seedsman. It may cost a little more than the local garden centre, but his advice will prove to be well worth any extra cost in years to come.

Scatter the seed in the proportions (grams per square metre) advised by your seedsman or on the box. To avoid sowing unevenly and to make sure you have sufficient seed, mark the plot out into sections of one square metre with a little sand. If you don’t do that, you may run out of seed before you’ve covered the whole site.

Finally, spray the area with water. It’s vital to keep it moist over the first ten to fifteen days, so the seeds will germinate. Depending on whether you sow in the spring or the autumn, the best sowing times, you can either rely on the weather or have to do it yourself, but don’t let it dry out. When the grass has reached a height of about five centimetres, you can cut it to about two to three centimetres with a rotary mower.

Written on behalf of the seed specialists King Seeds

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