Summer
Garden Maintenance – Getting the Essentials Done!
Have you noticed
how with light spring rain followed by an afternoon of warm spring sunshine
leads to your garden all of a sudden springing back into life?
It is lovely to
see but within days, your garden can take on the appearance of being a
wilderness. Great for encouraging wildlife into your garden, it is not so great
for when you are short of time but want your garden looking great.
That’s why you
need our garden maintenance service. But what is it that we do, and why is this
great news for keeping pests at bay?
Regular
Maintenance Tasks
There are some
tasks that are not only essential but need to be a regular feature in your
weekly gardening schedule.
Mowing the lawn,
for example, should be done weekly. It should also be aerated to prevent
compaction of the roots, scrapped to get rid of moss and watered regularly. To keep it lush and green,
always weed it and give it a feed with a high-quality fertiliser every now and
then. You may also need to re-seed patches too.
The biggest
mistake made with lawns is cutting them too short, especially when the weather
is dry. The root system of grass is not large thus, when the top layer of
moisture in the soil evaporates, it soon looks parched. Thus, when the weather
promises a dry run of weather, take it easy on the lawn.
The
Meadow Look
In recent years,
gardeners are being encouraged to leave a part of their garden ‘wild’. That is
leave the grasses longer, the nettles unpicked and plenty of wild flowers. The
idea is to attract wildlife, from buzzing bees to garden-friendly insects and
garden birds.
BUT, the meadow
look can hide many other animals that are a nuisance. Rodents are best not
encouraged although a family of field mice can be cute. Rats, however, are not.
Long growth provides cover for rats and some other pesky pests – if you notice
a problem, our team can help.
Annual
Maintenance Tasks
Trees and shrubs
add so much to a garden. Depending on their species, they can year-round colour
and will also make great nesting sites for all kinds of garden birds.
However, they
need to be kept in shape, not just that they look great but also to maintain
their health and vigour. If a shrub or tree is allowed to grow too straggly, it
becomes weak, leading to damage in winter storms.
Pruning most
shrubs and some trees should happen in the warmer months of spring and summer.
This prevents cold and frosty nights from penetrating the shrub, a problem that
can lead to part or all of it dying.
Hedges are
fantastic for privacy screening your garden and property but again, can become
a nuisance when they have a growth spurt. If your hedges back onto a public
highway or path, if you don’t keep them trim and in shape, you may face the
wrath of the local council.
