Live chat by LivePerson

 

 

 

Getting read for Spring – maintenance tasks

Ah Spring! All those garden structure that need paint and nails – it was all too easy to let them slide during the busy summer months, but you need to get on with the maintenance before plants emerge. One of your first activities, possible even with snow on the ground, is the repair and repainting of trellis or lattice work, and any arbours or pergolas on which plant material will climb. Repair any holes and loose boards in fences, and inspect decking for any nails that have worked their way up.

Once you’re convinced there will be no further snow or heavy frosts, especially air frosts, you can remove protective winter covers from evergreens and hardy shrubs. But wait a bit longer to remove winter protection from planting beds and roses – the wind chill can nip off buds and leaf shoots even if its not cold enough for frost.

If there are any design modifications you want to make to the garden, such as changes to your lighting, relocation of trees and shrubs, or building paths, this is the best time to get on with it because the months you’ve spent looking at your garden in its winter state will have shown you any particularly bleak or ugly vistas and this is the time to plan for something more interesting next winter. Think about winter flowering shrubs, or climbers like winter jasmine, or evergreens that have an interesting shape and will add to your garden’s winter appeal. You might want to consider a sculpture to add focus to your winter landscape, or plan lights that illuminate the dark corners in which you were stumbling during November and December. And remember all those places that had puddles and marshy spots? Get out there now and mark them, so that over the summer you can improve the drainage or build them up so you don’t have the same wet and horrible problems next winter.

Outdoor maintenance photograph by ocean yamaha, used under a creative commons attribution licence

© blueworldgardener.co.uk