Top tips for spring gardening success

Spring is a time of renewal, awakening and growth, and it’s also the best time to start thinking of breathing a new life into our beloved green spaces. With the winter chills disappearing and the first sun rays gaining more power, the soil is slowly getting warmer and ready for the next harvest season.

In today’s spring gardening checklist, we’ll explore some of the useful tips and techniques to help you prepare your garden for the new season and create a beautiful space to spend the upcoming warm, sunny days.

So, whether you have green fingers, or just fancy giving gardening a go for the first time, our blog will get you ready for this outdoor adventure and make spring gardening an easy, enjoyable process. So, roll up your sleeves, dust off your gardening tools and let’s get started.

Jump to:
Tidy up your garden
Prune the plants
Spring lawn care
Spring vegetable gardening
Start a herb garden

Tidy up your garden

It’s no secret that after several months of rain, snow and wind, our gardens can look a bit cluttered and messy. From accumulated debris to dead foliage, fallen leaves and weeds, all these elements can prevent your garden from blooming again, and it’s important you take the time to clear it out.

• Start with removing all the dead leaves and pieces of dead plants from your lawn and flower beds. Using a garden rake will make the job easier for you, especially when clearing the grass.
• Remove the weeds that have grown over the winter from your flower beds, lawn and gaps in any patio areas or paths you have.
• Collect all the debris from your garden and sweep the paths to tackle dirt and minimise the chances of weeds taking root. You could also pressure-wash patios and paths if you have access to a pressure washer.

As part of your spring clear up, you can also freshen up your garden furniture, making sure it’s clean and ready for you to enjoy the first sunny days outdoors.

Prune the plants

Pruning is an important step in your spring gardening checklist, refreshing all your greenery and restoring its vitality before the new season. By cutting away overgrown branches and stems from your plants, you can prevent them from becoming unruly while removing any dead or diseased stems.

However, it’s worth bearing in mind that while many trees and flowers are best pruned in spring, others might need similar treatment in autumn to better survive the cold weather. If you want to learn more about maintaining your garden in other seasons, you can read our blogs on Essential garden jobs for autumn and Winter garden maintenance.

Caution: Please use of gardening gloves when handling sharp tools or pulling stubborn/prickly weeds

These are some of the plants that can benefit from pruning in the springtime:

• Lavender
• Hydrangea (commonly named as Hortensia)
• Buddleia (also known as summer lilac, butterfly bush or orange eye)
• Rose
• Fuchsia
• Echinacea (also known as Coneflower)
• Ornamental grasses

Spring lawn care

A beautiful, healthy-looking lawn complements your garden, and it’s important to give it proper care before the summer starts.

The best way to start your spring lawn care is by mowing it regularly. The state of your lawn generally depends on the weather and temperatures, however, it’s recommended to mow it at least once a fortnight to keep it neat and in good condition.

Once you’re done with mowing, you can also consider feeding the grass to make it look greener and thicker. There’s a whole range of grass fertilisers available on the market, providing your lawn with all the nutrition it needs to thrive while giving it more strength to fight against weeds, moss and other parasites.

On the other hand, another method to look after your lawn is actually not mowing it and letting the grass grow freely. No mow approach has been recently gaining more and more popularity, as it benefits the wildlife in your garden and provides more nectar for pollinators. 

Spring vegetable gardening

There’s nothing quite like the feeling of picking your own vegetables from the garden on a sunny summer day. Growing vegetables offers a whole host of benefits, including:

Unique taste
From crunchy carrots to juicy tomatoes and crisp lettuce, there are many kinds of vegetables you can grow in your garden, offering a unique taste that store-bought products can’t match.

Mental wellbeing
What’s more, planting the seeds and watching them grow is beneficial for your mental wellbeing, as it can reduce stress and give you a sense of accomplishment. 

Cost-effectiveness
With grocery prices rapidly increasing, enjoying homegrown produce will also benefit your wallet, as growing from seeds is relatively cheap and doesn’t require any special tools or equipment. It does need patience though!

Sustainability
And finally, setting up your vegetable garden promotes sustainability and helps you follow a more environmentally conscious, eco-friendly lifestyle. If you’re looking for more tips to go greener, check our blog on Household sustainability and recycling tips.

To start the process of spring vegetable gardening, follow our checklist below:

Pick your favourite vegetables

Select the vegetable you want to grow, depending on your conditions and preferences. There’s a whole range of vegetables that are grown successfully in the UK’s climate, including carrots, parsnips, lettuce, spinach, tomato and peppers. You can learn more about different vegetables and their growing process from the Royal Horticulture Society.

Buy the seeds

Get the seeds of your favourite vegetables from a local garden centre or a supermarket. In fact, flower, herb and vegetable seeds are available in a wide range of places, from discount stores to DIY stores, offering you a wide selection of products to choose from.

Potted plants alternative

If you want to make spring vegetable gardening a bit easier for yourself, you can also buy potted part-grown plants and place them directly into the garden soil. However, while growing vegetables from the plant saves you some time, you’ll have fewer choices in terms of varieties you can grow and this tends to be more costly than growing from seed.

Get a seed tray and soil
While you’re in the process of choosing and buying the seeds for your vegetable garden, you might want to consider adding a seed tray and a packet of seedling mix to your basket, as they’ll come in handy during the sowing process.
             
Start with planting the seeds indoors
Planting your seeds indoors first is a great way to get a head start on the growing season, especially for vegetables that require a longer growing period or warmer temperatures to thrive. 

Simply fill the tray or small pots with seedling mix and moisten it slightly to prepare a good, healthy environment for the seeds. Then, make a small hole with your finger into each cell or pot, place a few seeds inside and cover them with the soil. However, remember then different seeds have different requirements for planting depth and spacing, so make sure to follow the instructions provided with the seeds.

Let the seeds root
After the planting, place the seed tray in a warm, well-lit location, such as a sunny windowsill, to encourage germination, but be careful to avoid too much direct sunlight. Don’t forget to water the seeds regularly to make sure the soil never dries out and remains constantly moist. Spray bottles are super useful when watering the seeds, as they provide a gentle, even distribution of water without disturbing the seedlings.

Move seedlings outdoors
Once the temperatures outside increase and your seedlings develop several small leaves, you can carefully move them into garden beds or containers outdoors. Similar to sowing the seeds, make sure you keep gaps between each plant, giving them enough space to take root and grow.

Look after the vegetable garden
From this step, all you need to do is regularly look after your vegetable garden, water the soil on a daily basis (unless it’s raining heavily) and regularly check for any pests and diseases. Some vegetables, such as tomatoes and cucumbers, might need additional support to be kept upright when growing.