Birthdays.....

Birthdays….the markings of another year, maybe it’s the first one, maybe it’s a big one, maybe its one too many to want to think about, we look forward to them, plan them, prepare them, celebrate them, avoid them, even run from them, wait for them or forget them and some of us love them.

And so it is with our gardens, as spring arrives so does the gardens birthday, an anniversary of birth as the plants spring back to life to which we all feel in equal measures some of the above. We certainly look forward to our gardens coming alive at this time of year, the burst of colour usually matched by an upturn in the weather, it is an expectant, exciting feeling.

We plan for our gardens now and rightly so as there’s a lot to do:

• Excuse the pun but a little bit of “Spring” cleaning is a good place to start. If you have a green house now is good time to clean it, and to remove the last of the leaves in corners of the garden as well as a general tidy up including a check of your tools before you need them. Especially your mower, we will all need these soon.

• Watering, in recent years we have seemed to get a little patch of dry weather in spring just when we don’t need it. Make sure you have water butts filled and ready and that the hose isn’t split after winter.

With a clean greenhouse, fresh tools and plenty of water the real work can begin.

• Spring will see us all give the lawn its first cut for a while, so remember to cut it just a little longer for its first couple of cuts. And keep an eye on those weeds, keep on top of them now and they are less work later on.

• Now is also the time to be thinking about, if you haven’t already, your planting. “In-season” plants are now available, including bedding, herbaceous perennials and vegetables, which are sown to either the seed tray or straight into the ground. Remember to leave enough space when planting, if in doubt there are planting rulers with the distances marked on them available from local garden centres.

We celebrate our gardens at this time of year as we use them, once again they become magical fantasylands, places of untold adventure or stadiums hosting the most important family sporting events. Our gardens play host to some of our most important moments, from first bike rides, to grand Marquee parties for anniversaries or weddings. They shelter our families through barbecues and sports days, they are there when we want solitude and they home our much needed wildlife. There is much to celebrate in Spring gardens, it is natures way of saying “lets party” so Happy Birthday Garden.

Written by c. dupont