Get ready for LIFT-OFF
From raised beds to plotting a veg patch ... the key jobs for priming your plot for spring
IT MIGHT be midwinter but that’s doesn’t mean gardeners should hunker down. Now is the key time to prepare your garden for spring, so here’s my guide to eight jobs that will give your plot an instant lift and prime it for the new growing season.
GIVE SOIL THE CHOP
If you’re planning on sowing seeds or starting a new border in spring, now is the time to prepare the soil. Digging helps to expose soilborne pests to hungry birds. Simply turn over the earth, drop back into the same hole, chop it up with a spade and repeat across the area.
SPREAD SOME LOVE
Originating from an old English word meaning soft, mulch is any loose material that is spread over soil to lock in moisture and prevent weeds from germinating. As it rots down, the stuff helps to improve the structure of soil and adds nutrients. For my money, a layer of leafmould, garden compost or composted bark also looks great, providing a dark foil for winter shrubs, perennials and bulbs. Apply a 2in3in layer of material, taking care not to smother low-growing plants and leaving a 12in gap around trees and shrubs – mulches can cause bark to soften, making plants vulnerable to fungal diseases.
TIDY BEDS AND BORDERS
Give beds and borders a quick overhaul to ensure they are ready to swing into action in a couple of months. Start by cutting down old, unkempt stems of perennials and raking out leaves. Annual weeds will grow during mild spells, so hoick them out to prevent future problems. Ensure a blast of summer colour by planting lily bulbs in holes three times deeper than their height – if you have clay soil, sprinkle horticultural grit in the bottom to improve drainage. Set in groups of three to five, spacing 8in apart.
RAISE YOUR GAME
Raised beds are versatile structures that can be used to delineate a space, make large plots more manageable and allow plants to be grown in tricky sites. Raising plants up makes them easy to tend if you have restricted mobility. Stone, brick and metal can be used to create beds but for an easy fix, make an 8ft by 4ft bed from four lengths of treated timber. Attach the pieces to corner posts to give the structure strength. Fill the bed with a 50-50 mix of sterilised topsoil and multi-purpose compost, adding some horticultural grit.
CREAM OF THE CROPS
Before the growing season starts, sketch out a crop- rotation plan. This clever technique allows veggies with the same watering and feeding requirements to be grown together, and reduces the risk of diseases establishing in the soil. Divide crops into brassicas (cauliflowers and other members of the cabbage family); root vegetables; and beans, peas and fruiting vegetables. Grow each group in a separate bed. Next year, plant brassicas in the bean bed, root crops in the bed vacated by the brassicas, and beans in the remaining position. Rotate again the year after. In year four, everything will be back in their original positions.
LESS IS MORE
I usually wait until spring to order seeds but I’m getting my order in early as I struggled to get hold of anything I wanted last year when mail-order companies experienced unprecedented demand during lockdown. My advice for newbies is not to get carried away. It’s better to grow a few things well than raise a lot of plants badly.
FRUITS OF YOUR LABOUR
Millions of people grew edibles for the first time last year as they took up a new hobby during lockdown. If you fancy picking fresh fruit straight from your garden, now is the time to plant bushes of blueberries and gooseberries, along with red, white and black currants. Dormant plants will soon burst into life, providing fruit that tastes better than anything from the shops. Either set in a sunny spot or raise in large pots of soil-based, John Innes No 3 compost. Plant acid- loving blueberries in pots filled with John Innes ericaceous compost.
KEEP IT CLEAN
Ensure greenhouses are ready to accommodate seed trays and pots of germinating seedlings by sweeping up any debris and then scrubbing down benches, shelves and the floor with disinfectant. Clean the glass thoroughly on the outside with a window squeegee head fitted to a telescopic handle.