Gardening During Lockdown – Week 3

Monday, 13 April 2020

So, as we come to the end of Week 3 of Lockdown, many of us seem to be getting into a new rhythm. And in many ways, this strange new life is actually OK. We can spend more quality time at home, eat meals together more often, play more games, find inventive new ways of staying in touch with family and friends. And of course spend more time in our beloved gardens. Our gardens and pets will be hoping this lockdown will continue for a while. So, if you need some hints and tips on outdoors, here is our Gardening During Lockdown – Week 3 blog…

Scarify & treat your lawn

All the hair & beauty salons may be closed and our own beauty treatments on hold, but that doesn’t mean your lawn can’t get some treatments! Now is the perfect time of year to scarify your lawn and get rid of all that moss. It takes a bit of hard graft but it’s worth the effort. Other things to do include digging out those lawn weeds, aerating your soil (you can just use a garden fork) then top dress the grass and add a fertiliser. For more info check out our blog Lulu & Tilda created 4 years ago (and see how cute they are!)

Harden off your seedlings

If you planted some seedlings at the start of Lockdown you will probably see some of them shooting up by now. Once they get to a good size, you can start hardening them off so they get used to outside temperatures. Take them outside during the day but make sure to remember to still bring them back inside of an evening for now.

Give your outdoor dens a makeover

If you are lucky enough to have a den or playhouse in the garden, now is the perfect time to give it a bit of a make-over. Ours has been painted inside and out, some rotten wood replaced, sign updated and curtains/bunting hung up. Perfect for the summer ahead – let’s hope we can have some gang meetings soon!

Keep painting!

It’s been 3 weeks of painting and we have achieved a lot! This week we have finished the fences, done the last gate, painted a table and benches, our pink troughs, a retaining wall and the playhouse! We’ll soon run out of things to paint!

Top up planters and troughs

It’s important that your pots are kept topped up and given new growing medium and feeds each year. Add new compost (you may need to remove some old compost) and add some fertiliser. Many fertilisers will provide 6 months of feed allowing you to put your feet up and enjoy your blooms all summer long.

Start a new project

We’ve been wanting to give our “archway” a makeover for a long time, but like everyone, struggle to find time to fit in new projects when “normal” life gets in the way. This weekend, we decided to make a start. Our 3 existing structures will become two, we are going to adapt the shapes slightly and then clad them with new timbers and paint some edges. Watch this space as this project evolves.

Put up a tent

We have put up one of our tents to create another space for the kids to play. Daddy Vialii should have been heading off to Parent & Cub Camp this month with Lulu. Looks like it will take place in the garden instead! Good job we have the fire-pit from Week 2 to keep us cosy too!

Other jobs to be tackling during lockdown:

• Keep on top of lawn cutting and edging
• Weed your garden
• Clean out gutters and soffits
• Get pots, grow bags, veg beds ready for seed sowing outdoors
• Source some bedding plants & annuals ready for when the risk of frost passes
• Protect new shoots of hostas, lupins etc from slugs & snails
• Prune hydrangeas

As always, enjoy your gardens and stay safe.

Vialii