A Beginners Guide to Routine Garden Maintenance December 5, 2017 – Posted in: News
Apart from the most avid of gardeners, mustering up the energy to drag the lawnmower and sheers out of the shed to give your outdoors some TLC can seem like one of the most arduous tasks. Before the summer rolls around and you are left with an overgrown mess, however, following these tips and tricks will help reduce the hours you spend in your garden but will still leave you with a garden to marvel at once the warmer months revisit. In their latest blog, Oak Garden Machinery provide amatuer gardeners with an full, comprehensive guide to routine garden maintenance.
The term ‘gardening’ suggests a series of unmanageable tasks which will take days on end to complete. To make the prospect of reinvigorating your garden slightly more manageable, we have broken the umbrella term of ‘gardening’ down into four, easy segments:
Lawn Care
Pruning
Paving
Decking / Wood Care
These four segments of routine garden maintenance will help transform your garden into a cluttered, outdoor space into a stylish, clean and tidy garden.
As is the way with most gardens, a lawn typically occupies the majority of a garden, and therefore, it should be given the most attention. There are two main components to managing and maintaining a healthy lawn, and they are mowing and watering.
Depending on the season, the length of your lawn should vary in order to achieve a healthy, green patch. In the summer months, it is advised to leave the lawn slightly longer, with the blades of grass reaching between 5-10cm, to make the lawn less prone to drought and to avoid any brown patches. As the conditions for growth are nigh on perfect during the summer, keep on top of the length of your grass by mowing at least once a week. During the spring, autumn and winter, try to mow the lawn once every two weeks, but adjust the frequency of your mows depending on how quickly your lawn is growing.
Watering also plays a big part of garden maintenance. Evidently, moisture levels increase during the winter, spring and autumn months, so watering is not too important during these seasons. However, when the rate of rainfall drops in the summer, it is important to water your lawn for a couple of hours every evening, unless there has been a significant amount of rainfall throughout the day. If the grass is left unwatered, the lawn will not get the sustenance it requires and you will be left with multiple brown patches across your lawn. If you have experienced high levels of rainfall, prevent your lawn from becoming oversaturated by aerating the ground with a pitchfork; this will help with drainage and will prevent your lawn from flooding. The clue to garden maintenance is in the name; the most important factor is keeping up on top of the simple tasks and monitoring the health of your lawn and acting accordingly.
Trees, shrubs and bushes are what add colour to your garden, giving it a sense of vibrance and character. To keep the colours shining all year round, follow these essential pieces of garden maintenance information.
Before you go hacking away at your branches and twigs, it is important to inspect the health of your tools. Making sure your tools are in good health will play a big part in making sure the health of your greenery stays intact. Make sure all of your tools have been sharpened before you use them and make sure that you replace any tools if they have are showing signs of rust or if any moving parts are struggling to function. Not only will these steps aid the health of your trees and shrubs, but it will also make the task of pruning all your garden features much easier.
As is the way with every aspect of garden maintenance, the method for pruning your features should change depending on the season. Flowering trees should be pruned during the summer, trimming away any dead and diseased leaves to make sure that the decay does not spread throughout the entirety of the tree. When you enter the autumn, spring and winter months, start strimming back any overgrown shrubs and cut them to size to keep your garden looking neat and tidy. If you are seeking a neat and tidy garden aesthetic, then follow the golden rules of garden maintenance by keeping on top of any overgrown shrubs and if any shrubs or trees begin to overhand or look untidy, then draw on the shears to cut them back into shape.
Garden maintenance is not only about caring for the grass and the shrubs, but instead, it extends to any paving you may have throughout your outdoors. Caring for paving is a lot less intricate than dealing with any shrubs or trees, and only requires a broom and a pressure washer. To get your paving looking as good as new, sweep the area and shift any loose pieces of dirt, and then use the pressure washer on the highest power setting to dislodge any grime or ground in dirt. Use the washer in a sweeping washer to brush the dirt away from the paving instead of embedding it down into the slabs, and once all the dirt has been removed, use a low setting on the washer to rinse the area. A quick and easy task which leaves you with a beautiful, well-keep space; routine garden maintenance has never been so easy.
If you have invested in any platforms for your garden, then the time may have come for you to repair and restore your decking or wooden features. Although this may not fall under the category of routine garden maintenance, restoring your decking will make a huge difference to the overall appearance of your garden.
If your decking has been painted and is looking weathered, then it may be time to give it another lick of paint. If you have decided to repaint your decking, sweep the decking to remove it of any debris, and with the broom, apply a decking cleaner and scrub the surface thoroughly. Allow your decking to dry for at least 24 hours and do not apply a new coat until the surface is completely dry. When painting the decking, apply each coat of paint and allow it to dry before applying another coat. Consider applying a varnish or a wax to protect the wood from adverse weather and to further the lifespan of the paint and the wood itself.
For all of your garden maintenance needs, Altis Industries stock a wide variety of garden tools, wood care products and a whole host of other tools to help make the task of routine garden maintenance even easier. If you wish to find out more about all of our products and services, contact Altis Industries Ltd today 01420 472692 or leave us a message via our contact form.