Let’s talk about gardens. Man they look nice, but it’s such a pain to clean them! The worst part is, no one teaches you how to do it.
We all know how plants work right; some dirt, water, sunlight, and you’re more or less on the right track. But then something goes wrong.
The hostas aren’t as full as last year, or the perennials you planted aren’t looking too hot. What do you do?
Well, gardens are a little more complicated than we expect at first. What people don’t realize is that they need to be cleaned almost as often as your house. We’ll tell you how.
Below you will find four great ways to clean your garden for each season. Each method will help to improve the health of your garden and make your landscaping pop.
The Inevitable Spring Cleaning
Every garden could do with a little bit of edging. This is a great way to start off organizing and improving your garden. Not only will it look crisp, this divide helps keep the lawn from encroaching onto your designated garden space.
You can do this a couple of ways. For a small garden, using a spade might be enough. But if you have a big garden, you might want to consider an edging tool which can be found at your local hardware store.
You’ll want to make sure that the edge is deep, deep enough for the mulch line to be below where the turf line ends.
Take Note of Your Garden in Summer
Now that spring is done and gone, and summer is in full swing, it’s time to take stock of how your garden has performed. The best way to do this is to start with removing all of the dead plants that have accumulated and toss them into the compost pile. If you don’t have one then what are you waiting for!
Dump out your flower pots. All of the old soil you can’t reuse can go into the compost pile you’ve just made. Save all the soil you can for next year.
Once you have a clear view of what you’re working with, start taking stock of what did and did not go well. Literally. Take notes on what plants flourished and which ones failed.
For the ones that did well, keep the seeds for next year! Store them in a labeled baggy, envelope, or old pill bottle.
Fall Back From Gardening
Fall might be the perfect time to work in your garden. The weather is cooler, the bug populations have begun to dwindle, and you can work knowing how much this will help you come springtime.
First and foremost, keep out those leaves! Having a leaf blower will make a world of difference in this regard.
Add more mulch. This extra layer will actually help protect your perennial plants during the winter. But wait to do this after the first frost, that way rodents don’t make nests. 3-in-1 blowers (blower/vacuum/mulcher) exist and will conveniently help you turn your unwanted leaves into mulch.
A Few Things Left to do for Winter
Luckily for you, there isn’t much to do in winter when it comes to gardening. The few things that do need to be done are to be worked on at the beginning of winter, before the snows and deep freezes.
This is a great time to do some weeding. Remember that compost pile mentioned earlier? Now is the time to use it. Compost adds a nutrient rich layer to your garden bed that will also help prevent weeds!
Remember that handy leaf blower I mentioned earlier? It’s not a one-trick pony. Feel free to use it to blow the snow off your garden as well!
Tending a garden can be a daunting task, but if you can manage to clean a little every season, it becomes much more manageable and you’ll reap the rewards.