Spring time is a favorite of many. The season that brings out all the beautiful colours nature has to offer, where flowers bloom and butterflies fly about – spring is like a real life fairyland. This is the perfect season to bring out your gardening skills and make your home look colourful and bright.
Some areas may still be covered in snow but it’s time to prepare for the most colourful time of the year. While others may be content in admiring the flowers and gardens as they walk around, it is your duty to ensure that your garden is aesthetically pleasing and comforting to the eyes. Remember, your garden is like the fashion statement that gives others a first impression to your home. Here are 7 things you can do to prepare for spring and make your garden look fresh and magical.
1. Clear up flower beds and borders
Before spring time and when the lawn is workable, you can start clearing up your flower beds, borders and the lawn. If you have a pond, you can clean up the surrounding areas. You can start as early as the lawn starts to show, but if you are more wildlife friendly, you can put off the tidy up until before spring starts. You can also leave old and dead growth of grasses and clear them up early spring. You can check the soil if it is already clear for preparation and add green waste or manure to prepare an organic and healthy soil.
2. Inspect your soil
Good soil is important to make your garden look healthy and blooming. This is where you should begin when tending to your garden. One thing to take note of is that there is a perfect timing for soil to become workable. It can be too early, or it may be too late, so it is important to check on your soil if it is already good to work on. Start by picking up a ball of soil. If it becomes compacted and easy to roll into a ball, then snow and rain are making it wet and unworkable. Workable soil breaks apart easily.
3. Start the clean up of your perennials
Perennials add volume and color to your garden and they are easy to tend to. However, when left untended, they can take up much of your garden and make it look messy. This is why you should maintain the growth of perennials, especially because they may multiply easily. In preparation for spring, you can start clearing up your perennials and plan where to leave it be and highlight it, as it may grow around your garden easily.
4. Hunt down garden pests now
You may be wildlife friendly, but having garden pests can be bothersome for your garden. Hunting them down and taking them out now can save you a lot of time and problem come spring. While clearing up your perennials, you can look for snails, slugs and insect colonies – this is where they commonly build their shelter during winter. Some species of larvae may also be taking shelter under pots and they feed on leaves and roots of plants. You can use chemical and anti-parasitic pesticides if the fest infestation is too big.
5. Install water butts
Rain water is best for plants, as compared to tap water. It is best to collect rain water through water butts because it can be used to water the plants. It is also advisable to install water butts below a water pipe to get the most out of the rain water. Not only is this water conservation effective, but it is also good for the environment and for your garden.
6. Create a composting area
A composting area will be of great help for your garden because of its natural approach to healthy garden tending. It can be a small bin or you can create your own composting area on one part of the garden where you can collect garden waste such as vegetable waste, grass clippings and other peelings. This will make your garden look tidy and the rich compost will make your plants healthier.
7. Prune trees and shrubs
You can start on pruning your trees and shrubs to maintain a proper form of growth of the plant. Take a look around your trees and shrubs and decide what needs early pruning. You need to prune the trees and shrubs properly to ensure that their growth is vigorous and they can still have a good budding of fruits and flowers.
It’s time to make your grass greener, literally. When you want to be a do-it-yourself or you are working on a budget, you can be your own Homes Designer. With these tips, you can make your home warm, welcoming and full of life by making your garden healthy and colourful. It’s spring time!
