Spring

Once you start to notice the bulbs popping up through the soil, you know it’s nearly time for the garden to burst into bloom! There’s lots to get on with in the garden during Spring in preparation for the summer months ahead. Once the frost has subsided, the first step for ensuring your garden is ready for the new season is to have a Spring clean by removing weeds, leaves, and diseased or old plant foliage from the flower beds.

#CompostWeek

The week commencing March 13th is dedicated to celebrating the benefits of composting. A well-prepared soil is the foundation of your entire garden, you can improve your soil with compost and organic matter. We have a great range of soil improvers, multi-purpose and specialist composts, the majority of which are now peat-free, garden fertilisers, mulch and farmyard manure to ensure your plants are healthy and thriving.

Creating your own compost is easy and a great way to recycle and give back to nature! Simply add any organic matter such as fruit and vegetable scraps, coffee grounds and eggshells into a waste compost bin or pile and cover with a layer of soil to help break down the waste, turn the compost regularly until its dark and crumbly.

Spring Planting

The colours and scents of spring will soon be everywhere in the garden, as the Spring progresses refresh your containers with bold, bright seasonal bulbs such as tulips, daffodils or bedding plants like pansies and viola. We have a wide range of beautiful spring bedding, as well as a specially selected range of pots and other decorative items such as garden lighting and furniture.

In preparation for the growing season, it’s the perfect opportunity to thoroughly clean the green house to ensure the best possible light for this year’s seedlings. Whether you have an allotment plot, a patch in your garden, or just some pots on the patio, there are fruit and veg varieties to suit everyone. Download our vegetable planner for your reference. You can start to sow tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers indoors in a good quality seed and cutting compost. Plant onion sets and potatoes (first earlies in March, second earlies and main crop in April). Make sure to earth up once the shoots appear above the soil. As long as the ground isn’t frozen, you can plant out runner beans, french beans and peas from May.

You can start planting hanging baskets from April, as long as they are kept indoors until the last frosts. Ensure to choose a basket that is lined or replace the liner of your existing basket if your old one is no longer suitable. Start with a plant that creates an impact in the centre of the basket, add some trailing plants and consider your colour choices. We have a lovely selection of basket plants to choose from in our glasshouse.

Summer Bulbs

We have a wide selection of beautiful summer-flowering bulbs that will bring impressive flower displays to your garden, not only do they look fabulous growing in borders or containers, but they also make excellent cut blooms to adorn your home too!

We have lots to choose from, including the highly popular dahlias, iris, lilies, gladioli, and anemone to name but a few. Many of our summer-flowering bulbs are hardy and only need to be planted once to enjoy blooms year after year, but some tender species such as dahlias and gladioli can’t survive the frost and should be lifted and stored over the Winter to be replanted again the next Spring.

Give your Lawn some TLC

Sow new and repair existing lawns, repair dead patches (Patch Magic), treat moss (Evergreen Mosskil) and weeds and re-shape the lawn edges using a half-moon lawn edging tool. You can mow your lawn once a week if you can towards the end of this period but keep the blades a little higher at this time of year.

Another fantastic way to freshen up the garden is to give the patio, the shed and the outdoor furniture a good spring clean. Sweep the leaves from the patio and get it back to its former glory with a pressure wash, clean and repaint the shed and outdoor furniture, or why not invest in some gorgeous new outdoor seating, table or bench? We have lots of lovely designs in our Brightwell Building to get you inspired.

Support Garden Wildlife 

Lots of wildlife is very beneficial for your garden such as insects, birds and Hedgehogs. Encourage Hedgehogs by feeding them or buy a wooden Hedgehog home. Plant Bee loving plants such as Foxgloves, Aquilegia or Dahlias, just look for the “Bee friendly” symbol on the plant label or seed packet. During Spring birds require high protein foods such as black sunflower seeds, mealworms and mixes for insectivorous birds.