Ready to spring
Leigh Bramwell offers a more realistic list of tasks to do in this most unpredictable season
ABOUT FIVE YEARS AGO some website sent me an article containing a list of tasks gardeners should do to prepare their gardens for spring. I came across it by accident.
I’m not doing any of them. Obviously the author of the article had no idea what spring is like in this neck of the woods and was unaware that from August to November inclusive we often have four seasons on one day, and some of them three or four times.
This morning, for example, it was 17C and calm when we took the dog for a walk. Quite pleasant, then. Twenty minutes later there was a cold, brisk southerly, the temperature was 13C and it was drizzling. I asked The Landscaper if he would speak to God about not scheduling Covid lockdowns in spring. Early summer would be much more suitable.
As for that task list — even if I could get outside between showers I won’t be sitting in the freezing cold garden shed rubbing all the tools with boiled linseed oil, turning the compost, pre-soaking beetroot seeds and inspecting the raised beds for damage.
And even were the weather miraculously to enter a warm, settled phase, my spring list would have nothing to do with garden maintenance and everything to do with giving the garden a makeover designed to hide its flaws and impress whatever visitors we might be having should we be unlocked any time soon.
Mulch will be the first job. Well, actually the second, since the first will be weeding all the garden beds, which fortunately is The Landscaper’s department. Then the mulch which, like good makeup, makes everything look well cared for.
The same applies to whatever materials you have used around your property for paths and paving. This is a good opportunity to review those materials and make sure they are still fit for purpose. For quite a few years most of our paths have had crushed shell on them, but that’s about to change. Since ripple-soled shoes became fashionable for the second time in my life, we’ve had issues with shells wedging themselves into the gaps and coming inside, where they either escape from the sole and hide in the rug, or stay in the shoe and scratch the planked floors. This year they will be replaced with lime chip, which doesn’t fit in the ripples and therefore takes the load of the person who usually does the vacuuming.
Lime chip is pricey so the refurbishment of our balding driveway will be done with ordinary old Gap 20, which is grey and boring but won’t break the bank. For those who don’t know how the ‘Gap’ thing works, the number relates to the size screen the gravel will fall through. Gap 20 will fall through a 20mm screen. Good to know, I suppose.
Our block walls will get a coat of paint. Because I have a short attention span, the colour quite often changes when this task gets done. If you’re going to do the same, I suggest you ascertain just how much more work will be involved if you decide to turn your midnight blue masonry into a pale coffee shade. Bear in mind it will need more than one coat, that you will be able to see any bits you missed, and there will be no option to give up before you’ve finished and think nobody will notice.
The waterblaster has already been called into action because it’s not a major issue if it drizzles while you’re doing it, since you’re likely to get wet anyway. The Landscaper has waterblasted the water features and ponds, the decks, the outdoor concrete tables and most of our containers which have gone green over a very wet winter and spring. And himself.
The terrace pavers will also be waterblasted but may be due for a rethink due to their high maintenance. They were put down with paving sand which waterblasting dislodges, so we are looking at alternatives since they need cleaning and then re-grouting at least twice a year. Current thinking is to re-lay them with larger channels between and plant the gaps with low Mondo to create a more sustainable surface. It’ll soften the look, too. I’m liking the idea.