Give your garden a cracking Easter facelift
From transforming borders to sprucing up lawns, follow our expert’s guide and...
EASTER marks the start of the gardening year for many as they dust off their mowers and shears. There are lots of quick jobs that will make an instant impact and ensure your plot is in good shape for the months ahead… BOOST YOUR BORDERS NOTHING beats a bed or border in its summer pomp, but displays will fail to deliver without some attention. Clear up decaying stems, deadhead fading spring flowers and remove weeds. Once there’s room to move, shore up emerging perennials with supports to prevent them collapsing prematurely.
Hostas, achillea, hardy geraniums, sedum and many other perennials will flower poorly if congested. Prise tired clumps from the ground and divide them into smaller pieces.
Plants that have loose, fibrous roots can be teased apart by hand, but ones with sturdier roots will need splitting with a spade. Replant as soon as possible.
Plug bare gaps in displays with perennials or shrubs, or plant summer flowering bulbs. Oriental lilies, montbretia, gladiolus, tiger flowers and pineapple lilies will provide a great show.
Plant in groups of three, five or more. Finish by laying a 3in carpet of leaf mould or bark chippings over the bed.
Transform larger patches with hardy annuals. Nigella, larkspur and Californian poppies will provide colour from late spring until the end of summer. PLANT BASKETS HANGING baskets are great for breaking up the monotony of walls and fences. Now is the time to plant one up for summer colour, using grasses, small evergreen shrubs and a host of seasonal bedding plants, such as pelargoniums, pansies, busy Lizzies, petunias, lobelia, begonias and trailing dichondra.
Cover the inside with a liner and add a 1in layer of compost to the base. Make slits around the outside and feed through trailing plants. Fill two-thirds of the container with compost and repeat the process.
Top up with compost until it is within an inch of the rim and plant the top of the basket – place taller varieties at the back. Dot lowergrowing specimens and trailers around the edges.
Water and keep the basket in a frost-free place until ready to put out in late spring. LOVE YOUR LAWN DEAD grass, weeds and moss can build up over winter, forming a thick layer known as thatch. Apart from hampering growth and creating ideal conditions for diseases, it prevents water from reaching roots. Remove this material by drawing a spring-tined rake over the surface.
Foot traffic on heavily used parts of the lawn can result in compaction underneath. These areas tend to be poorly drained, allowing moss to flourish and puddles to remain on the surface after rain. Break through the compressed layer of soil with a garden fork. Plunge it into the ground, repeating every 4 in across the affected area. Spread a sandy top dressing ( a mixture of sand and top soil) over the surface and work into the holes with a broom. Perk up yellowing lawns with a spring feed, which is high in nitrogen, to encourage lush, green growth. SPRINGSP CLEANING GRIME can build up on patios, decking and paths over winter, but it’s easy to shift quickly using a pressure- washer. These timesaving gadgets are available to hire for about £30 a day, but it’s more cost-effective to buy one as they can used for many other jobs, such as cleaning the car.
Garden furniture that’s been exposed to the elements will need some sprucing up. Scrub metal, rattan and plastic items with warm, soapy water and then rinse.
Wooden furniture that has been under cover will just need brushing. If the paint, varnish or other preservative is flaky or looking worn, then rub gently with sandpaper and reapply with your chosen finish. MAKE A SPLASH PICKEREL weed ( Pontederia cordata), water hawthorn (Aponogeton distachyos), water irises and many other pond plants will sulk if overcrowded. Rejuvenate by carefully lifting containers from the water, decanting the rootball and splitting it into several pieces. Repot a section in the same container using fresh aquatic compost.
Add some new plants if the pond is looking a bit empty – a third of the surface needs to be covered to prevent algae from growing. Use a combination of floating aquatics, submerged oxygenating plants and water lilies, along with astilbes, marsh marigolds, acorus and other marginal plants around the edges. Every five years or so, give ornamental ponds a full service by removing plants and the water, scraping silt off the bottom, and then refilling with clean water.