Gardening in winter seems to trouble a lot of people, but it needn’t be so. Here we share some direction to help your cause, and prepare for a beautiful summer garden.
ASSESSING
Firstly, take a good walk around your garden, take in everything you see, with delight, but also with a critical eye. Ponder on what you would like your garden to look like at Christmas time. With this in mind, start making a to-do list.
CLEARING & FILLING
We’ve just been through a full growing season, and it would now be time to trim back your garden and do some taming.
Identify any particular problem areas – where plants have either died in the summer heat or by pests – and start opening these up with some clearing out. You then need to fill these gaps, which you can do by either splitting and dividing your existing plants, or making a visit to a plant supplier for some “fillers”
DESIGN TWEAKS
With the same critical eye, decide whether you garden perhaps needs some design tweaks. Maybe consider adding some rolling mounds to your landscape, or creating some more fluid edges. Look at placing some design elements into the garden such as pots, water features, or pathways.
On the subject of pots, look at your existing pots. Assess whether any of them need feeding, or trimming, or even replacing. Alternatively, you can also just add some underplants into the pots for colour and a facelift.
Check whether existing water features maybe need a facelift, or perhaps the planting around them needs an upgrade. Oftentimes, water features become clogged with autumn leaves, and become an after thought.
Pathway pavers that may also have become clogged up or bogged down, could probably do with a bit of straightening.
Look also at any gravel area and refresh these by adding more gravel or levelling out and gravel that has become uneven. Gravel should be thick and cover the particular area well.
PLANT CARE
Winter is the ideal time for really nurturing your plants for the best summer outcome. Look into pest control, clipping, shaping and pruning.
Inspect your trees, prune them off your roof and also with the aim of opening up views and letting the light in.
Planting winter seedlings, succulents and indigenous fill-in plants for the garden adds lovely variety and beautiful pops of colour.
For soil enrichment with organic fertilizer , as well as composting for any planting and for existing beds, will be most beneficial for summer growth of all plants.
It is also wise to mulch your garden if you can. This is a fair bit of work but it helps to keep in as much moisture as possible during the dry season.
Those tips should really help you get along.
If you need additional help feel free to schedule and appointment for an assessment, by contacting our office 😊