Spring has sprung
In order to make the most of the summer this year, it is worth devoting a little of your time now to some spring garden maintenance. A little dedicated time now will reap rewards throughout the summer and save you money in the long term.
Firstly, get your lawn looking good; scarify it (to remove moss and dead grass) followed by a weed and feed which will give the grass much needed vigour after a long winter. Sow grass seed on any bare patches, water it and keep the birds off it whilst it germinates.
Secondly, spend some time going through each of your flower borders, dig out perennial weeds, hoe annual ones, remove any dead foliage and prune back broken and dead branches from your plants. Feed the existing plants and water them if they need it. Consider planting seasonal bedding plants to add a splash of colour further into the season.
If you have an irrigation system then now it the time to get it up and running. It should have been drained down for the winter and will now need to be re-commissioned for the summer. Don’t forget that your garden is an ever changing environment and the irrigation system needs to be adapted and evolved over time to take account of the developing plants and trees.
Check your boundaries i.e. hedges and fences to make sure they are secure and that your pets/children cannot get out and unwanted visitors cannot get in.
Visually check the trees in your garden to see if they have been damaged by the winter storms or snowfalls. If they have been then call a qualified tree surgeon that will be most able to advise you on the correct course of action.
If you have a garden lighting system, it makes good sense to have it checked at least once a year and this check must be carried out by a qualified electrician. They will check the safety protection (trip switches) are working properly, that the cabling has not been damaged or chewed by vermin, that junction boxes and transformers are water tight and that the lights themselves are in good order and lighting the garden in the way that you want.
If you have a pond, check the water is clean, remove unwanted debris, and check any fish are healthy before testing and cleaning the pond pumps and pond filtration. Again, as with garden lighting, the electrics should be checked by a qualified electrician. It is simply not worth taking risks with electrics, especially outdoors.
Finally, check your children’s play equipment. This often gets overlooked but it is worth ten minutes of your time to make sure the swing, climbing frame and trampoline are all working properly, that the nuts & bolts are remain tight and that that nothing has deteriorated over the winter months.
You can now get the deck chair out, pour yourself a well earned drink and enjoy your garden.
Simon Sales is MD of Waterwell Limited which designs, installs and maintains garden irrigation & garden lighting systems in residential properties throughout London and the South East.