Spring 2022… so, here I sit, in my garden, writing this article in the stunning sunshine we have longed for all winter. I could not be happier!
Having the chance to finally sit in the garden fills me with so much joy. I have the birds chirping away, I am watching the insects fly around, and the bees have woken from their slumber to make the big push on collecting nectar. As I write this there aren’t many plants in flower but the ones that are look great and are lifting my soul.
It is such a relief to feel the sun warming my back, there is something about this time of year that just settles the mind and encourages you to work that little bit harder. Be it in the office, to which you can now travel without a winter jacket, or outside – like the guys who work for me – where you find yourself down to a t-shirt having built up a sweat. Either way, the sun shining just makes the day go a little better.
With that said, it is a good job we have that added extra energy, for now we have got more work to do and need to keep up…
April and May will see masses of growth from the plants in our flowerbeds. I love this period; you can literally see the plants growing before you. I love to walk around my garden with a morning coffee and see what has grown. I can see Alchemilla mollis poking through the soil finally, the Hellebores are just going over and will need deadheading shortly. I see the red shoots of peonies parting the soil, and the alliums are out in mass. The flowers are on their way. As I walk around the garden, I inspect the growing buds and wait in anticipation for when they may show their beauty.
But with the beauty comes the ugly.
By ugly I mean weeds. Of course, they are not ugly really, they are just trying to survive and procreate. Sadly, we cannot have this and need to remove them from the flowerbeds. There shouldn’t be too many weeds in the first place, well dug-over winter soil should mean that any weed that does grow can be plucked out with the easiest of efforts. I personally prefer to keep digging over the flowerbeds, this will keep the soil fluffy and looking neat and tidy.
With weeds in flowerbeds come weeds in lawns. A weed and feed treatment will also create lush growth. I personally mow my lawn twice weekly like a right geek – I love a well-trimmed and green lawn. To mow twice weekly is great, but unrealistic for most. I must however insist on a weekly mow, it really is the very best for your lawn. As you find yourself heading to the warmer months, you will find a fair amount of thatch (a layer of organic matter that accumulates on a lawn around the base of the grass, it includes living and dead plant matter, crowns, stolons, rhizomes and roots). I like to rake the lawn once a month to remove the thatch for the grass to breathe – it also helps with drainage.
This will probably go against the grain so I apologise now, but I also like to feed the lawn midsummer. I always find it to work well. If we know there is a bout of wet weather coming, I simply throw out a little feed which gets watered in. After that I get a nice green lawn for the rest of the summer.
With the lawn in good nick I would hope to see the beds are in fine fettle too. Little and often in the flowerbeds will keep them (and your back) in good shape. Make sure you deadhead where needed and tie in to keep climbers in great form. At Me, My Spade and I, we put the hard yards in early only to sit back and enjoy the gardens we’ve created. Try not to ignore the preparation that is needed, if you do you will find the summer months very hard indeed.
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Me, My Spade and I, based in Oxfordshire and providing specialist horticultural garden services throughout the Home Counties and London. From residential houses to commercial sites which include full garden design, plant selection, landscaping and installation. ”Each season brings different life to the garden and it is my job to bring natural beauty to all of my clients’ gardens. I am truly passionate about what I do and this resonates in all my work.”
Tom Nicholas of Me, My Spade and I.
memyspadeandi.com 07920 112887
