Richard Greenfingers
Garden Maintenance
and
D.I.Y Services
Monthly
Tasks
March/April
The weather has now started to warm the air and ground and various insects are making forays into your garden, ladybirds searching for food, aphids and small insects.
Occasionally bumblebees dart across in front of your face with an urgent buzzing sound looking for nectar.
Your lawn is now beginning to show signs of new growth, with in the lawn are the mandatory Daisies, moss will need attending to using a combined grass feed, moss and weed killer.
The growth of the grass and natures flowers, some call them weeds, these are vigorous at this time of year aided by the warm, moisture and sun.
spring and autumn are the best times to apply feed as this will give the grass a welcome feed after the winter period while in autumn will prepare the lawn for the winter period, the weed killler will accelerate their growth and begin to wither while any moss will turn black.
Lawn care in the Spring is the ideal time to get your lawn back into shape after a hard winter. A lawn needs to be as resilient as it can be by summer, what with kids, dogs and al fresco picnics. And as it's getting warmer, the grass responds to a little TLC with gusto. A three-step treatment gives you a beautiful green sward within weeks.
Scarify: Use a wire rake vigorously all over the lawn to scrape out all the dead grass that's been building up during the year. If you leave it where it is, it'll choke new growth, reduce air circulation and in really bad cases clog up the lawn completely.
Aerate: Grass needs to breathe to be healthy, so get air and water down into the rootzone even on a compacted lawn with an ordinary garden fork. Sink the prongs to half their length every 10cm and wiggle gently to make holes for excess water to drain away.
Top dress: Kick-start your lawn into growth by mixing three parts topsoil, two parts compost and one part sand for drainage. Spread a thin layer over the whole lawn. In a week or two it'll greened up beautifully, ready for the summer ahead.
June/July
Now well into June and the foliage has really accelerated its growth, a combination of rain, sun and warmth all coming together at the same time, it appears the garden grows overnight threatening to overtake the rest of the garden, especially natures flowers.
By now after having given your lawn some T.L.C your lawn will be verdant and lush and you will need to mow regularly, perhaps twice a week in the height of the growing season.
October/November/December
As the summer season progresses general maintenance is needed, from lawn maintenance:
Autumn lawncare
This is similar to the preparation used in the spring time.
After a long summer of football and picnics lawns can be looking a little tired. It's the perfect opportunity to give them a dose of TLC, sending them into winter revitalised and refreshed, ready to start again next spring. Follow our three-point plan and you won't go far wrong:
1: Scarify: What with grass clippings, autumn leaves and other garden debris a mat will be forming at ground level just where living grass needs air to survive. Work your way over the lawn with a spring-tined rake, scraping out as much as you can to let air and light in.
2: Aerate: Thundering football boots can hammer the soil into a hard pan which grass roots struggle to penetrate. Break it up by spiking the whole lawn with a garden fork at 15cm intervals, sinking the tines in to half their length and giving them a wiggle to open up lots of tiny holes.
3: Overseeding: Adding extra seed at this time can be beneficial for your lawn and will show good results come the following year by being lush, healthier and strong.
4: Top-dress: Your final thank you to your lawn is a nutrient-rich top dressing to improve drainage and inject some nourishment. You'll find ready- mixed top dressings in our garden centre; spread in a layer 1-2cm thick over the lawn and work it in with the back of a rake or a broom.
Dead heading
Encourages the new growth of flowers on plants, especially with geraniums who love a sunny aspect to grow in, while doing this you may see some disease showing on your roses, any disease must be cut out and disposed of, either burning or by putting in a plastic bag, never introduce diseased cuttings into a compost bin,you will never be rid of the disease and may be spread to healthy roses.
Even on days when the weather will not allow any outside gardening there are jobs that need to be attended to in the greenhouse, when the weather does allow now is the best time to clear and tidy the garden, an idea to encourage our natural helpers is to leave a pile of leaves and grass cuttings to enable hibernating creatures to rest and recupperate and they will help when the warmer weather returns in the spring.
An insect box positioned near to soft fruit or blossom forming trees and bushes will pay dividends in the spring, you will notice bees, lace wings and butterfly's taking advantage of this new home during the year.
There are many variations available:
We’re all familiar with the gentle ‘buzz’ of the little bee but did you know that they are really important to our environment because they pollinate crops and plants?
Sadly, the bee population is dwindling, caused in part by disease and because their habitat is disappearing.
Give the bees a helping hand and welcome them into your garden with this charming simple bee and insect house on the far left.
Crafted from hollow wooden stems of different lengths, the Bee House aims to create a habitat for non-aggressive and non-swarming solitary bees.
Greenhouse:
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Lift and pot up tender plants like dahlias and salvias to store for winter
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Once summer crops are cleared give greenhouse glass a thorough wash
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Check greenhouse heaters are working well before you need them
Around the garden:
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Dig over heavy clay soils to expose clods to the frost to break down
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Rake fallen leaves and pop into perforated plastic bags to make leaf mould.
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Look around the garden for any wildlife that may need some extra help, feed the birds when seeds berries have been eaten.
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Keep a look out for hedge hog hides that may have been disturbed by another animal or human and recover, they do help to keep the slug population under control.
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Keep water from being frozen especially before birds start to get ready for sleep, they are then able to drink or bathe (brww)
Appears the insects have vacated their hotel accommodation by the end of autumn.
Community housing for our friends?
By attracting many differing species of insect this helps in propagation of pollen, this in turn helps nature balance the environment food, each insect has its own place in the food chain.