Is your garden looking a little weathered, wilted, and worse for wear after the winter?
Briza is here to help with top 7 easy steps you can do NOW to whip your garden back into shape this spring.
1. Check your lawn
The lawn can take up as much as half of the total garden area own which is why you should keep it neat and well maintained. Follow these few steps:
- Set your lawnmower to its lowest height and mow the lawn. This is to prevent mowing the grass to short so that the roots are exposed.
- Scarify your lawn by raking it to remove the old dead mat using a steel rake with sharp teeth.
- Apply a lawn fertiliser high in nitrogen, e.g., 8:1:5 or 5:1:5 and top dress with a 1-3 cm thick layer of lawn dressing. Spread the lawn dressing across the lawn using a rake or hard broom. Use the flat side of a rake to level out the surface.
- Water deeply and gently after applying the fertiliser and lawn dressing.
2. Pull weeds
Weeds will only worsen with the coming rains. Prevent weed growth proactively by applying weed control products or pull them out as you see them. Remember to:
- Pull the weed out WITH the roots.
- Weed after it rains or water your garden to loosen the ground.
- If the soil is dry, or if your weeds are too small to pull out by hand, use a garden hoe to make it easier.
3. Prune trees and shrubs
Spring is a good time to prune because it stimulates new growth and helps to prevent possible diseases. Be careful not to trim early blooming shrubs just yet, but rather wait until after they’re finished flowering or you could wind up cutting off all of the new buds by accident.
Watch this short video to learn more about pruning trees and shrubs.
4. Pull out dead annuals
Annual flowers like petunias, begonias, marigolds, geraniums and snap dragons plants that germinate, flower, set seed, and die in one season generally only live for one year and won’t necessarily grow back after winter. Pull any dead perennials to tidy up your garden.
5. Prune perennials
Pull off and prune the dead leaves from your perennials that are stopping new growth. Be careful not to trim off any new growth.
Read more about pruning perennials here.
6. Neaten up flower beds
Neaten your flower beds using a garden shovel or by edging it with bricks, pavers, small logs, or pebbles. Edging your flower beds with these materials clearly defines the beds from the lawn and any other beds to make them look neater and much more appealing to the eye.
7. Mulch
Mulch is any material that can be placed on top of the soil around plants in order to keep moisture in the soil and to keep the gound cool. With drought and water shortage remaining a serious problem in many parts of South Africa, mulching is even more important than before.
Mulch can be organic like straw, fruit pips, wood barks, garden leaves, compost, nutshells or inorganic like gravel, pebbles and stones.
Read more about mulching here.
Has this inspired you to jump start your garden this spring?
Step into your garden this spring with Briza by purchasing some of our top notch gardening titles on a range of topics from companion planting, problem plants, lavenders, orchids, clivias, garden design, gardening with limited space, vegetable gardening and more.
