Tips for Spring

Gardening is good for you in so many ways - but then us green fingered types have known that for years! Getting close to nature is brilliant therapy for mind, body and soul, and it's been a lifesaver for many during lockdown.

Gardening is a gentle workout that gets more oxygen circulating round the body and brain, and being out in the sunshine allows the body to make vitamin D, which is essential for strong healthy bones. It's also a great way to burn calories!

So what can we do in our gardens, now that spring has definitely sprung?

1. Clear the patio, clean the paving and get the table and chairs out of the shed ready to enjoy the sunshine.

2. Set the blades of your mower to the highest setting so that only the tops of the grass are taken off for the first few cuts.

3. Clear up dead perennial plant stems and tatty ornamental grasses by cutting them back close to the ground.

4. Prune early spring-flowering shrubs, such as winter jasmine, when they are over, cutting out older stems.

5. Weed thoroughly, working from the back of the borders to the front, sprinkling on fertiliser and pricking the soil over lightly with a garden fork to aerate the soil and work the fertiliser in.

6. Cover bare soil with an inch or two of bark chippings to suppress weeds and leave it looking tidy.

7. Start planning your summer pots. Don't forget members can order bedding plants through the society.

8. Most importantly, take time to really look at your garden and enjoy it as it bursts into life once again.