Spring Forward!

Now that we are occasionally getting some sunny days, it is the perfect time to “Spring Forward” and start venturing outside into the garden again and here are some jobs, perfect for those early spring days…

Have a Spring clean!

Check over all your garden tools and make sure they are clean and sharp for the season ahead. Clean out old seed trays and pots and clean your greenhouse windows. Dig out the power washer and give those slabs and decks a good blast too.

Get Painting

Now is the perfect time of year, before plants start to get big again, to give fences, sheds, walls, decking. raised beds and furniture a lick of paint. It will extend their life as well as instantly making your garden look so much brighter.

Paint your fences to protect and make them look good

Prune roses

Start by removing any dead, diseased or dying branches as well as any that are crossing. Then thin any old growth that you don’t want. Finally, encourage new growth by removing up to a quarter from the top of the remaining healthy main stems.

Make your beds!

Just as it’s important to make your indoor bed in the mornings, so it’s important to keep ontop of your garden beds and borders and keep them neat and tidy! Remove all weeds, cut back old herbaceous and trim grasses and shrubs. Once you’ve done that add some soil enhancer such as a fine bark mulch or some manure, your plants will love you for it!

Add a fine bark mulch to improve the soil and help reduce weeds

Get planting

First Early potatoes take around 10 weeks to crop and you can plant them in late February into March in deep planting holes to protect them. Once the soil is beginning to warm, around mid-March, you can plant onions and shallots, if you want to avoid bolting, use a variety that’s less sensitive to cold weather.

Sow chilli and tomato seeds

If you have a heated greenhouse get some early seeds on the way. Don’t worry if you don’t, a sunny windowsill in the house will do just as well. Remember to have a check of what seeds you have left over from last year and what you need to buy this year so you are ready to sow the rest of your crops as soon as the temperatures rise.

Check out your seeds to see what you need to buy for the growing season

For other ideas of things to do in the garden in March read our blog Spring Into Action.

Or if you are looking for inspiration in what to grow this Spring, read 10 Super Easy Spring Veg To Grow.

So, what are you waiting for? Go garden!

Vialii

Gardening During Lockdown – Week 1

As the first, bizarre, unsettling week of lockdown due to coronavirus comes to an end, we have collated some of the things we have done in our garden during the last week. With who knows how many weeks to come, there will likely be plenty of time to undertake those outdoor jobs you haven’t got round to yet. If you are wanting to turn your hand to horticulture and not sure where to start here are some ideas to get you underway with our latest blog “Gardening During Lockdown – week 1”

Sow Seeds

It’s the perfect time of year to get some seeds sown and veg and flowers growing. We have sown a variety of seeds, from broccoli and courgettes to sunflowers and nasturtiums. All you need is some compost and seeds (your local hardware store may even deliver to your doorstep). Don’t worry if you don’t have seed trays, anything can be used – yoghurt pots, drinks bottles, butter tubs. Anything!

It’s the perfect time to sow some seeds

Chit Your Tatties

Get yourself some seed potatoes (don’t just use a potato you find in your cupboard) and get them chitting in a bright, cool area. Make sure the “eyes” are pointing up. After a few weeks they will be ready to plant. Chitting will make your potatoes grow faster and stronger so it’s worth doing.

Start chitting your potatoes

Paint Fences

We had a busy weekend painting fences, making sure that they don’t just look smart but are also given added protection and will last longer. We used “urban slate” on our side fences and “black ash” for our bottom fence, the perfect back drop for planting. It’s a great job to get the kids involved with too!

Get the kids to help paint your fence!

Prep Your Veg Beds

Top dress your veg beds with compost and/or manure to make sure your veggies grow super strong. Give it a good dig in and clear any weeds.

Add compost and manure to your veg beds, dig it in and then rake over in readiness for sowing.

Fit/Clear Gutters

We needed to fit a gutter to one of our sheds so that job got ticked off this week. Take the time to clear any debris out of your existing gutters too. You could even fit a water butt to a down-pipe and start storing rain water for use in your garden.

Make sure your sheds have good gutters to protect your shed and harvest rain water if you fit a water butt.

Clear away overgrown ivy

Ivy can be pretty in the right place but can also be incredibly invasive. We had lots growing over a side fence so we took the opportunity to tackle that, clearing it all off in readiness for painting.

Remove ivy to keep your structures safe and strong

We will keep you posted on the progress of our seeds and veg patch as well as what other jobs (there are many!) we will be tackling throughout this lockdown period.

We hope you are keeping safe and managing to spend time in your own garden. They will help keep us sane!

Vialii