April 14 marks National Gardening Day, an opportunity to get outside and prepare your backyard for the summer months.
Now Easter is over, warmer days really aren’t that far away, and your garden is probably in need of some TLC after the winter.
10 things to do in your garden
Gardening expert Fiona Jenkins has recommended 10 things to do to your garden now that the weather is starting to pick up.
From planting spring bulbs to mowing your lawn, there is loads to get busy with right now – so what are you waiting for?
1. Clean your patio
Start by giving your patio a good clean as you’ll soon start spending time in the garden with family and friends.
Jenkins recommends using a stiff broom to get rid of all of the loose dirt and debris and then going over the slabs with a pressure washer.
2. Clean garden furniture
At the same time, it’s also a good idea to give your garden furniture a good scrub to remove any dirt, moss, or spider webs.
If you have wooden furniture in your backyard, you can treat this with wood stain or oil ready for the season too.
3. Cut the lawn
Next on the list is cutting the lawn, as long as it’s dry. The grass will now be growing again, so it will need to be cut regularly right up until autumn.
On the first cut of the season, put your mower blades on the highest setting so that you don’t scalp the turf. Then, you can gradually lower the blade setting over the coming weeks.
4. Weeding
Your garden may have become overrun with weeds over the winter, so you need to get rid of them before they continue spreading.
It’s best to remove them by hand to get rid of the roots and ensure they don’t come back, but you can use a weed killer or boiling water if that’s not possible.
5. Plant vegetables
If you want to grow your own vegetables, now is the time to get planting. Potatoes can be planted outside in April.
Tender vegetables can also be started indoors, like tomatoes, sweetcorn, courgette, basil, squash, and cucumbers, and taken outside once it gets a bit warmer.
6. Plant flowers
Your garden will look beautiful by summer if you start planting some flowers now. Half-hardy annuals like marigolds, cosmos, and zinnias can be sown from seeds.
Sweet peas bought as potted plants can now be planted too, as can colorful summer-flowering bulbs like Galtonia and gladioli.
7. Take care of flowers
It’s important to take care of all the flowers in your garden as they grow. For example, some will need stakes to prevent the stems from becoming damaged.
Others will need plant food put into the soil, weeds removed and gentle pruning. You can also take cuttings to grow more florals.
9. Empty your compost bin
If you have one, now is the time to empty your compost bin, as all of the wildlife that may have been hibernating in there will have emerged.
Make sure you check the bin carefully anyway for any hedgehogs or frogs sheltering inside and use the compost to fertilise your garden.
10. Tend to the wildlife
Finally, you can support the local wildlife by leaving feed or caterpillars out for the birds, and food for the hedgehogs.
You could also create a bee hotel, which are perfect for solitary bees such as mason bees, and will pollinate your flowers.
Fiona Jenkins is a UK-based landscaper with over 25 years of experience in the industry. She is a gardening expert for trade-matching site MyJobQuote, and offers her expert advice to tradespeople and homeowners.
