In the UK, there are an estimated 27 million people who regularly partake in gardening. This is a huge portion of the nation’s 64 million-strong population, while this interest also funds a gardening retail sector that’s worth in excess of £5 billion.
While it may seem counterintuitive to think about your garden during the cold, harsh winter, now is actually the ideal time to begin preparing your outdoor space for the spring and laying the foundations for a fruitful summer.
In this post, we’ll explore this idea further while asking how you should look to prepare your garden for the spring:
Get your Shed in Order
Every good garden requires secure storage, usually in the form of a wooden shed or steel log store.
This not only needs to be in place before the spring, however, but you’ll also need to spend time reviewing your list of gardening tools to determine which ones need to be replaced and how you intend to organise them.
In terms of the former, be sure to take a look at your shed to determine whether it needs to be repaired, upgraded or simply replaced. If your shed has experienced water damage or general wear and tear and needs to be replaced, you can visit outlets like Two West to browse a wide range of product options.
In some instances, you may even want to build your own shed, so long as you have at least some expertise and access to the relevant materials.
You should adopt a similar approach to your tools, as you look to upgrade your collection and potentially use a mill file to sharpen blades and optimise their performance in time for the spring.
Put in the Hard Yards and Clear Away the Debris
Now is also the ideal time to thoroughly clean your garden space, as you put in the hard yards to clear away debris, pull up weeds and create an environment in which plants and seeds can grow.
Ultimately, you need to focus on clearing the space and removing anything other than the bare soil. You can discard dead organic matter on a makeshift compost pile to break down, before incorporating the subsequent mulch into the soil in time for the spring months.
You’ll need to be particularly focused when tackling weeds, as while dead ones can be simply removed, those that are live should be burned or composted once they’ve been pulled from the ground. Consider purchasing a garden incinerator which can get rid of everything in a timely manner.
This will stop seeds from germinating and minimise the risk that weeds will grow again during the summer.
Prepare the Soil
On a final note, it’s imperative that you start preparing your soil as quickly as you possibly can.
So, as soon as the January frost has lifted and the soil is workable, you should consider preparing your garden beds for the warmer weather conditions. Soil tends to become a little compacted during the winter, so you should focus on loosening this up and turning it frequently.
You can then add your compost to the soil to aid its growth and development, while we’d also recommend testing the ground to determine its pH level at this stages.By identifying the soil’s pH and nutrient levels, you can determine a precise course of action and whether it’s worth raising garden beds to negate any issues.