Tenant Advice for Seasonal Garden Maintenance

Lawns

With such a hot summer and still so little rainfall, most lawns are looking far from their best this autumn. To help them recover, it’s important to remove leaves, any dead grass, or unwanted weeds. Unless temperatures rise above 19 degrees C reseeding any bare patches will have to wait until after the spring frosts. However, if all the dead grass is raked or scraped away the grass will start to regenerate itself once the rains come.

Dead heading and cutting back

Hedges will need to be lightly trimmed as soon as possible cutting back most of the summers’ growth. Lavender and small shrubs need about half of this years growth trimming off. You can usually tell the new growth by the different colour shade.

Dahlias and roses can still be dead headed but hydrangea heads should be left now until after the spring frosts which could kill them.

Perennials can be left for insects and birds throughout the winter. Many will naturally die down in the winter and regrow in the spring whilst others will need to be cut back in the spring to promote new growth and flowering.

Parking and Driveways

Now is an ideal time to weed any hard standing and then it should remain weed free over winter.

Planting

A garden full of plants makes it easier to keep weed free. Bulbs are one of the easiest things to plant and grow. Spring bulbs need to be planted now before the ground gets too cold. Daffodils, snow drops, crocuses and tulips can be bought fairly cheaply from most supermarkets or online Boston seeds.com or sarahraven.com.

As a general rule each bulb needs to be planted in the ground to a depth of  2 – 3 times the height of the bulb. Once planted they do not need any attention and will bloom in the spring, not only bringing colour to the garden and the joy of spring but helping to prevent weed growth as the bulbs fill your soil beds and planters. Once they have flowered , they will die off naturally and can be left in the ground to reappear again next spring needing no input from yourself.