Step into Spring! 🌱🌸
Spring is in the air and temperatures are starting to rise. Soon the garden will be bursting back into life, so it’s time for gardeners to get busy!
Prepare the soil
Start by preparing your garden beds for the growing season. Clear away weeds and lightly fork over the soil before adding good-quality compost and fertiliser. This will give plants the nutrients they need for strong, healthy growth.
Get planting
As the weather warms up, start sowing and planting seedlings of Marigolds, Zinnias, Nasturtiums, Cosmos, Verbena, Gazanias, Aquilegias, Salvias, Portulaca, Cleomes, Phlox, Osteospermums, Vygies and Diascias.
Remember to include plenty of indigenous, drought-tolerant plants that are suited to your local environment. They are often well adapted to our conditions and can create a spectacular display while supporting local wildlife.
Adding a few wildflowers to your borders is another great way to encourage bees, butterflies and other pollinators into the garden. 🐝🦋
Plant summer-flowering bulbs
Summer-flowering bulbs are another wonderful way to add colour to the garden. For the best effect, plant them in groups or drifts rather than scattering them individually.
Try Watsonia ‘Bugle Lily’ in a variety of shades, Ixias (African Corn Lily) and the ever-popular Dierama ‘Angel’s Fishing Rod’, with its elegant arching stems.
Crocosmia is another excellent choice, with some varieties growing as tall as 2m. Other possibilities include Gladioli, Amaryllis, Canna Lilies, Eucomis ‘Pineapple Flower’ and Liatris.
Give your roses some attention
Spring is also an important time for rose care. Prune established roses before the new growth gets going and apply a good layer of mulch around the roots.
Keep an eye out for slugs and snails, which love the tender new shoots appearing in spring. Aphids can also quickly colonise the soft new growth on roses. Regularly check your plants and deal with infestations early.
Spring is also a great time to plant new roses, giving them plenty of time to establish before the heat of summer.
Get growing in the vegetable garden
There is plenty to do in the veggie patch too!
Seed potatoes planted during August and September should be ready for harvesting around December, although you can harvest some earlier as delicious new potatoes.
Don’t have much space? Try growing potatoes in potato sacks or a large container/bin — a great option for smaller gardens.
You can also sow beetroot, radishes, carrots, bush beans and runner beans directly into prepared beds.
Spring is here!
There is something wonderfully exciting about this time of year. The days get longer, temperatures rise and suddenly the garden seems to wake up overnight.
So get those hands dirty, prepare your soil, plant some colour and make your garden a haven for people, plants and wildlife.
Happy gardening and welcome, Spring! 🌱🌸🐝
