10 Tips to Prepare Your Garden for Summer

Spring has sprung and a fresh growing season is well under way, but is your garden ready for the new season? Whether you are a pro or a novice, April is the best time for Spring gardening to wake your garden from its winter hibernation.

At Grandhome, there is plenty of green space to enjoy and more than 1,200 planted trees and extensive sowing of grasses and wildflowers.

And now that Spring has sprung, we’ve pulled together our top tips, from making your garden more eco-friendly to trellis maintenance, to get your garden ready for warmer weather.

Start your gardening with a blank slate

The first step of Spring gardening is getting the essentials into a good state, making it easier to tackle all the other jobs that will follow.

Try to get rid of debris and leaves, pull up the weeds and cut down excess foliage. If you eliminate weeds from your garden now, they will still be soft and easy to pull out before they get the chance to root deeply.

Take steps now to repair the lawn

The cold brisk winter can make our lawns much more vulnerable to weeding and other issues, so it is a good idea to get any repairs out of the way now.

Now is the time to top-dress your garden with soil. Take a brush or a fine rake, and brush soil across the lawn. This will encourage healthy roots to form and will protect the structure of your garden.

When the temperature rises to over five degrees, take advantage of the occasion, and seed your lawn with grass seed. By winter, your lawn should be strong enough to deal with our harsh winters.

Fix fences, gates and woodwork  

After months of beating wind and lashings of rain, our garden screening and fences can often look worst for ware after winter. It is a good idea to fix them up now so you can get another year out of your woodwork and enjoy it throughout summer.

You can spruce up tired wood and outdoor furniture with a lick of outdoor paint and by choosing a product with preservative, you will also protect it for the year ahead too.

Dust off the cobwebs in your garden shed

You will thank us later for this one! It is a good idea to spend some time cleaning the interior of your shed now, to make sure your equipment stays in the best condition possible over the coming months. Why not invest in some storage solutions now and you will be able to fit more into your space.

Prune the shrubs

The shed is tidy, the lawn is fixed and the fences are painted….it is time to get down to real gardening business! If you did not prune your trees during winter, then you should do it now by getting rid of dead or damaged branches.

You can also get rid of any dead foliage before new growth begins and it will be trickier to get rid of the nasty bits. It is always best to use a pair of secateurs to carry out this job.

Give the beds in your garden some needed TLC

Getting the soil in your garden ready for planting is one of the most important jobs and it means when the weather gets warmer, you can get straight into the fun bits.

You should look to clear all the weeds in from the beds in your garden and fork them out. This will allow the soil to be aerated and loosen up the flower beds where the soil has compacted together. When you plant new things, it will make it easier for their roots to grow.

Broad beans or broccoli? You decide

With so many varieties of vegetables to choose from, growing your own can be very rewarding. With the winter frost past, it is time to take advantage of spring showers and get your patch to work.

It is hard to know where to start, but you can use a growing calendar to know when to grow vegetables.

Propagate rosemary or other herbs for a constant supply

Rosemary, mint, and chives are delicious in different food and drink so make al-fresco dining and BBQs even better with your own constant supply of culinary herbs.

Have a never-ending supply of rosemary or other herbs by propagating it yourself.

Make sure you collect water for an eco-friendly garden

Collecting rainwater is a beneficial way to water your garden over the summer months and we get plenty of it too! If you install a water butt now, then you can collect water from Spring showers for the summer ahead.

Rainwater is more nutritious for your plants than tap water and it is not just good for your plants – it is beneficial to the planet too. There is a lot of choice out there, this handy guide tells you how to choose the best water butt.

Make your garden bee-friendly

Every gardener should do what they can to help the save the bees by making their garden wildlife friendly. To do this, you can plant bee-friendly plants with pollen and nectar, such as heather, primroses, saffron, hazel, willow, hellebore and dandelion.

You could build a bee house or hotel in your garden. Bees will lay their eggs in the house and leave a supply of food for the larvae to feast on. The larvae hatch and will later emerge from the contraption.

You can also help tired bees by making a sugar solution with equal quantities of sugar and warm water. It you place it close to the bee’s head, it should drink this and be energised.

Looking for a bigger garden to call home?

There are a broad range of desirable homes with varying garden sizes available at Grandhome, including 2, 3, 4 and 5 bedroom houses. Whatever stage you are at, we have a family garden that is perfect for you. View our homes for sale.