At long last spring has arrived. Once the time changes it really is all systems go for those of us who love to garden. That extra hour of daylight from the end of March followed by those incremental minutes every day make all the difference. Warm sunshine, a drop of rain and all that light mean that there is a lot to do.
Lawn care is at the top of my list; starting with an initial cut, just taking the tops off means that growth is encouraged while also protecting the young shoots from the potential damage of frost. Then taking a good hard look at the situation, too many weeds, masses of moss, easily identifiable worn patches and then moving toward a plan of action, selective weed killer, lawn sand and perhaps a new path or a small set of steps. Next on the list is pruning. Having provided spectacular red stems over the winter the dogwood shrubs cornus sanguinea really need some significant work. I’ve been renovating long neglected shrubs for the past few years taking out a third of all growth from the base each time so as not to shock the plant. This year however I’ve decided to coppice them completely and cut them back to the ground. This will allow the other smaller plants surrounding the dogwoods extra light this spring. I’ve also been clearing my perennial beds of the old stems left standing from the autumn – I leave them as long as I can as they add a bit of height and interest during the winter and look especially nice when covered in frost. New growth has started so the time to do that job is now. Planning the vegetable plot is a fun task, thinking about the successes (or failures) of last year and identifying new varieties to try. My go to selection has to include french beans, courgettes and tomatoes.
There are plenty of shows and plant fairs to keep busy with just in case you need time away from the garden, see the events tab on the right of this page to find out more.