Top 5 garden jobs for spring
1st Mar 2023
Top 5 gardening jobs to get your outdoor space ready for Spring
Here are five ways to help you get your garden ready for the warmer months. After Winter, all gardens need some TLC, and these ideas will help you revive your outdoor space for new spring planting and enjoying the better weather.
1. Have a big garden clear-up
Winter can take its toll on any beautiful garden. There’s likely to be fallen leaves and debris lying around. By having a big spring clean you can get the fundamentals back into a decent state. Start by removing leaves and debris from your borders, lawn, paths, and patio. You’ll then see which areas need more attention. Perhaps your lawn needs some re-seeding or there’s been one or two plants that have fallen casualty to the colder temperatures.
Garden clearance can feel like a chore that’s less enjoyable than planting. But you can make short work of leaves by using a cordless leaf blower and you won’t have to worry about using an extension cable or getting your power lead tangled up in foliage.
Once you’ve got your piles of waste, you’ll need something mobile to collect them in. By using a garden cart you can make carrying leaves a breeze (…the kind that won’t blow them away). You’ll find it easier to use than a standard wheelbarrow and it’s also a robust way to carry soil, mulch, gravel, and paving slabs too.
2. Start composting
What do you do with all the waste you collect? Composting is a great way to recycle garden waste, and you can also recycle your kitchen waste with it! Check out our guide to composting
Composting creates nutrient-rich fertiliser for the soil in your garden. It’s a homemade alternative to manufactured fertilisers and peat-based products, which have a negative impact on the environment.
The quickest way to generate high-quality compost is to use a rapid garden shredder. This slices through leaves, twigs, weeds and hedge trimmings in super-quick time. This ensures you have finer garden waste for decomposition. Then use a compost tumbler to turn the compost more easily, than if it was in compost bin, and break it down more quickly. By doing this process, you’ll have compost ready within 6-8 weeks (instead of 6-12+ months).
3. Restore life into the garden’s soil
By starting your composting in late summer and the Autumn months, you’ll have plenty of compost ready to go come Spring.
Adding compost to your garden soil is the most effective way to restore the soil’s structure, nutrient level, pH level and wildlife such as worms. It also enhances the soil’s moisture level and ability to hold water for longer.
You can also use compost as mulch, which you apply to the surface of the soil to help prevent water evaporation and weeds from sprouting. Compost is also great for planting spring bulbs, using in containers and potting up starter plants.
If you’re preparing seeding beds or a vegetable patch, it’s great to till or cultivate your soil first. It’s essentially a rotovator to help break-up compacted soil ready for planting. Much easier than sticking a big fork in repeatedly! There are powerful, self-propelled solutions right down to lightweight machines that you push along yourself.
Carrying compost and mulch around the garden is heavy-duty work. A more user-friendly alternative to the wheelbarrow is a mobile tipper. Because it has four robust wheels, the load is evenly spread making it easier to steer. And, just like a wheelbarrow, when you get to where you need to be – you just tip the contents out.
4. Spruce up the borders
You’ll create more garden waste by weeding and cutting back shrubs and hedges. Draper Tools offers a huge range of high-quality garden hand tools to satisfy all your weeding, digging, and pruning needs. They also come with a lifetime warranty. If you have a lot of hedges and trees, then you’ll save time by using power tools to make short work of trimming and cutting.
Weeding and pruning low height shrubs can be back-breaking work, involving a lot of kneeling, bending, squatting and crawling around. There are gardening aids to help take the strain off your back and legs, such as garden kneeler or roller seat. A folding kneeler and seat gives you the best of both worlds! It can also assist you getting up and down; ideal if you’re a little bit unsteady.
5. Revitalise the lawn
Spring is the perfect time to show your garden lawn some love. Start by giving your lawn a good mow to get rid of excess growth. Then scarify, rake and aerate it to remove any debris, weeds and moss, and loosen the soil to encourage growth and hydration, particularly for when the warmer weather kicks in. The 2-in-1 lawn Aerator and Scarifier is a powerful solution and perfect for small to medium-sized lawns. Then finally, evaluate your lawn and seed or overseed to resolve any bare patches of grass and encourage stronger re-growth.
So, now you’re ready for some finishing touches to make your garden look amazing. You could crack on with your spring planting, pressure wash your patio and garden furniture or repair your fences.
Visit your Draper stockist or online retailer for any of the tools you need to get your garden looking great this Spring. Enjoy your outdoor space!
