The days are starting to get longer, and we find ourselves eagerly on the look-out for the first snowdrops and crocuses to start peeking through. Before we get into the productivity of springtime in our greenhouses and gardens, there is still time to get some important jobs done, to set the rest of the year up for gardening and growing success.
Cleaning and Tidying
It might not be the most exciting of gardening jobs, but it can still be incredibly satisfying at this time of year to get the garden ready by clearing debris and pruning dead plants in your flowerbeds and veg patch. There may be some stalks that you left so as not to leave your beds looking bare, or some plants you’ve been meaning to cut back since the autumn. It’s a great idea to get these cleared now, before growing season arrives.
As well as tidying and cutting back in the garden, you might find there’s some work to be done in your shed too. If you found yourself pushing items to the back last year, or are wondering where your favourite trowel has got to in the piles of empty compost bags, the spring is a good time to get your shed clear, clean and organised.
You could also take the time check over your manual and electronic tools. If anything needs repairing or replacing, it’s better to know about it now, rather than wait until a delay could hold you back in the busier times of the growing season.
A check in on your greenhouse or cold frame greenhouse is a good idea too. If you’ve been using it to overwinter plants, you may need to wait for warmer days before getting in there to clean, but thinking ahead to the growing you’ll be doing in just a few months, you may want to organise the space to get it ready.
Soil preparation
This is the perfect time of year to think about your soil health. When the ground isn’t frozen, you can be digging over and raking in organic matter and compost. It’s also a great time of year to test your soil and see if it needs any further invention to support the plants that you’re planning to grow.
Home soil testing kits are affordable and easy to use, and knowing whether you need to add nutrients will let you increase the chances of your plants thriving this spring and summer. Some fertilisers need to settle well in the soil before plants are added, so this is the right time of year to look into this important aspect of gardening, instead of leaving it to right before you want to plant out or sow directly into beds.
You may also want to mulch or re-mulch your exposed soil, to take care of weeds and get the soil ready for planting this spring.
Lawn Maintenance
If the winter has taken a toll on your lawn, this is a good time to assess the damage and plan ahead for solutions. You may want to think about scarifying and overseeding the whole lawn, or you may have specific problem areas you want to look after. Before the growing season is upon us, and every gardener gets busy, this is a good time to work out what your lawn needs. And it’s worth completing tasks such as making sure you have the right variety of grass seed to hand, should you need it.
Greenhouse maintenance
We’ve already mentioned tidying your greenhouse or cold frame, but this is also a good time of year for looking to clean and maintain your greenhouse. Take some time to check that the doors and vents are all working well and in good condition, and that there aren’t any repairs needed. You will want to clean the panes of glass, to make sure as much precious sunshine as possible reaches your seedlings when you get them in the soil. Other surfaces will also benefit from cleaning, not least to make sure no pests have made a home amongst fleece-wrapped plants through the winter.
If any of your overwintering plants haven’t survived, now is the time to say farewell and to free up the space for new green shoots in the coming months. And if you’ve fallen into the inevitable trap of using some of your greenhouse racking as storage instead of growing space, now is a great time to clear out those empty plastic pots, remove what you don’t need and take stock of what you have.
Early Planting
If you have space in your greenhouse or on sunny windowsills, there are so many flowers and vegetables that you can get in the soil early in the year. From crops like lettuce and radish, to splashes of colour like delphiniums and violas, as long as you manage to protect them from frost and keep conditions right for them, there’s no reason you can’t get a head start on the growing season in your greenhouse, cold frame or in your home. If you’re looking for inspiration, you might find it in our monthly seed sowing guide.
You may think you’re too late to get bulbs in the ground, but if the soil isn’t too hard, you can still get some tulips in as late as early February, and alliums and lilies even after that. They will flower later than those planted before the winter, but who wouldn’t want an extended tulip season?
Planning your garden
Gardens can bring year-round joy, and with a bit of planning you can have a garden that produces vegetables almost every month of the year and flowers the don’t fade until the ones beside them bloom.
Take some time to think about what you enjoy the most in your garden, and how you want to use your space. Think about your raised beds, flower beds, where you want to grow vegetables, your larger pots and containers. Some gardeners enjoy making a map of their garden, thinking ahead to what will flower and ripen at different times. If you’re doing that, mark out your perennials, and then think what you’d like to add to them, and which annual bedding plants or crops you want to add in. The possibilities are endless, and the main thing is that you grow things you love in locations that they can thrive.
Maintenance Tasks
Before spring has sprung, take a moment for those maintenance tasks that you’ll thank yourself for later. Like checking your irrigation system, repairing or replacing anything that needs it. You could also sharpen your tools, restock your compost and other regularly used items. If you want to get ahead of pest management, you could also research to see what you do to prevent pesky pests that you know are likely to return to the garden this year.
These tasks may not be the things that ignite your joy and bring you the most pleasure in the garden. But getting them done now, in the colder months and before your focus and energy turns to tending seedlings, planting out, pruning and harvesting, means that you’re getting your gardening year off to a great start and can enjoy the more exciting and rewarding aspects of gardening the months ahead.