Getting Ahead in Your Garden pt 1

What should I be doing in my garden this year?

We all have New Years Resolutions each year, and plan to plan ahead! So how can we plan ahead in our gardens, make sure we keep one top of everything, and not let the garden overwhelm us?

If any of you are like me, life is busy. Jobs are noted, in my head, and then rapidly get buried behind other more pressing things. I teach students a computer programme, and I say to them very optimistically ‘just 30 minutes a day’. We can apply this to everything in our day - and then soon the whole day is taken up! What then happens is the least pressing jobs just don’t get done - garden’s often being one of these. Unfortunately then the garden starts to grow, weeds establish, grass gets a bit long, the corners we have stored things gets overwhelmingly messy, fallen leaves build up, more piles of things are created, and suddenly our garden has turned into a massive time sink.

Gardens are ever-changing, ever-growing, ever-moving spaces! We cannot keep a garden static. They grow, they die; we grow, our needs change. As such, we have to keep at it with the jobs, and also keep saving ideas as they we use the garden changes. This BLOG is split into 2 brief sections - Keeping on top of the garden this coming year, and planning for the future.

Garden Maintenance

So what are some Garden Maintenance Jobs you can do regularly to keep on top of the garden? There are obviously monthly specific tasks that need doing, but some are continuous, and - with a little planning and regularity - are easy. If I was to recommend a few tips it would be these:

Hoe. Hoe. Hoe. Having a long handled hoe by the back door will make your life so much easier. On those occasions you make a coffee, or pour a glass of wine and are pottering about, potter out into the garden. Grab the long handled hoe, and poke about in and around your garden plants to lift out those germinating weeds. This is a little and often job, and while the cumulative effort may be the same as a massive weeding session a few times a year, by doing it little and often it means the chore seems less arduous and is, in a funny way, quite satisfying. Try it, go on!
Lawn Weeds. Some folks go to a lot of effort to eradicate lawn weeds. If you do this then check your lawns over regularly to keep on top of things. Use tools such as a weed puller or weed knife and get them out regularly and early to avoid bare patches and the need to reseed.
OR, love the weeds! We have a funny tendency to loath a dandelion, but actually they are important early nectar sources for pollinators, and I actually love the vibrant swathes of yellow when they have been left to run riot. I’m not asking you to go that far of course! Simply deadhead them when they are going to seed to keep control over the excess! Daisy, Bugle, Ground Ivy and Clover are all pretty little lawn plants, and great for garden biodiversity. I have actually sown a WildFlower Lawn in my small urban garden, and will be keeping everyone posted in a BLOG once it has established.
Deadheading. Another little and often job! Grab that cuppa, and wander out in the garden, with secateurs in hand and poke and about, deadheading your perennials, roses and some of your shrubs. Deadheading will encourage more blooms on many of your plants, and by chopping some right back you will often get a second flush - some Salvias and Nepeta are quite generous! Deadheading roses will prolong the season of flower.
Each plant is aiming to reproduce, so once it gets to seed stage it will stop producing flowers. By interrupting this lifecycle you can gain more flower. We don’t advice doing this late into autumn as actually seedheads are great for winter structure, and are also a valuable late season seed source for birds and insects. You can find out more about what to deadhead and why here.
Oh, And Tidy As You Go! Tidy garden; Tidy mind!

We also really promote the services of a gardener to help out in the garden. They really are worth their weight in gold. Gardeners can come daily if you have a significant sized garden, weekly, monthly or seasonally. Experienced gardeners really know what they are doing. They know their plants. They know which ones need pruning when, which ones flower on old wood, and which on new, and which will bleed if pruned at the wrong time. They can do the larger lifting and dividing, and moving of plants. To find out more about hiring a gardener, please read this BLOG I wrote earlier this year.

If you would like to be reminded on what to do when in the garden, then you can sign up to our Occasional Newsletter here. This newsletter focusses on garden maintenance, design and planting ideas, gardens to visit in the South East and more.

If you feel a garden design is the way forward, then please get in touch. We are happy to chat over your project.

If it is Garden Design Ideas you need for your changing needs, growing family, change of lifestyle, and you are not sure where to start, then we recommend get some inspiration. Read our Next BLOG post on Getting Garden Design Ideas.

Wishing you a wonderful 2019 in your garden.