Preparing Your Garden for Spring

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The warmer temperature and the flurry of activity in your garden is more than enough to compel anyone to do a little spring gardening. Here’s a brief checklist of the things that you might want to do to prepare your garden for spring.

Off to a right start

Before you focus your attention on gardening, start it off right with some spring cleaning on your yard. As you tidy up your garden and clear the clutter, it will become easier for you to do other important gardening tasks.

Early spring is the best time to remove pesky weeds because at this point, the roots of these uninvited guests are still shallow, making these easy to remove. Adding a layer of mulch around trees will help prevent weeds from overtaking your yard.

Be sure to check and clean drains as well as areas where leaves may have accumulated. This will ensure that rainwater will have a runoff path.

You should also check your irrigation system. Look for parts that need to be repaired or replaced.

In addition, this is the perfect time to make a few repairs around the yard. Go over your planter boxes, edgings, and trellises and check whether any of these need to be repaired or replaced.

Prune trees and shrubs

Around this time, you may notice new growth on your trees and shrubs. Set aside time to prune away dead or unwanted branches. Removing these will help fortify your trees and shrubs against pests and diseases while facilitating the flow of air to the branches.

Pruning also benefits roses. Just make sure that you do your pruning before the buds start to show.

Fertilising

As your plants begin to blossom, you may want to encourage more growth by fertilising your garden. Just remember to avoid fertilisers rich in nitrogen. This nutrient can make your plants vulnerable to insects and fungi.

Experts recommend the use of manure or slow-release organic fertilisers instead. If you are planning on using manure, choose cow or sheep manure instead of chicken manure. Make sure that you follow instructions.

If you have fruit trees on your property, consider using liquid potash along with a general fertiliser. These can aid in the optimal growth of fruits.

Prepping your garden bed

Planning to plant veggies? You can begin planting lettuce, spring onions, summer beans and sweet corn around September. Crops like basil, chili peppers and tomatoes will have to wait until October when the weather has grown warmer.

For more garden and landscaping tips, tune in for more Jim’s Mowing NZ blogs.