5 of the best ways to prepare your garden for Spring

21st Mar, 2019

With the weather on track to get brighter and warmer (any day now!), it’s fast approaching the time of year where we’ll all get to enjoy our back gardens a bit more. Your own garden has probably undergone a fair bit of punishment from the elements throughout the winter months, though, so in order to get it all ready for spring again it’s worth breaking out the rakes and hoses to get it all shipshape again. Hiring a skip is a great way to get rid of all that garden waste, but only once you’ve finished…

Giving your plants a bit of TLC

If you’re a gardener you probably won’t need to be told twice, but for everyone else, it can be an aspect of our gardens that’s overlooked surprisingly often. Unless you’ve been very selective in what you plant, and when, lots of them probably won’t have survived the winter. So, it’ll be a case of turning the soil with a fork or spade to get rid of any weeds, and possibly thinking about replanting new flowers. While you’re doing this, it’s also a good idea to hunt down any pests like slugs or snails, which otherwise might be chomping quite happily on your remaining prized plants when they come to bloom again.

Cleaning your solid surfaces

In this context, we’re talking mainly about patio and decking, both of which can take their fair share of punishment during the winter. If your patio looks scruffy, it can have a big impact on the look of your garden, while slippery sections of weeds or moss can also pose a slipping hazard – neither of which are ideal for your garden, no matter what season it is. Power washing the slabs will do a big part of the job for you, and you can pluck the weeds and quickly rake over what remains to remove any remaining twigs and dead leaves.

However, unfortunately your decking isn’t solved quite so simply. Power washing it on too high a setting can gouge and irreparably damage the wood, so a gentler touch is needed. Avoid using a concentrated jet, and work your way up from the lower settings rather than starting on the higher ones – you might find you can do the job quite easily with less power than you think. You also might want to consider oiling or staining your decking ready for the sunshine. Although if you do, be careful not to do it on a rainy day, as it’ll affect the quality of your finish.

Clearing out summerhouses, greenhouses and sheds

Let’s be honest, these sorts of garden outbuildings can easily become accidental homes for all sorts of knickknacks and clutter. That means now would be a great time to get rid of any unused toys, playhouses, old bikes and tricycles, or gardening equipment, so that you can make maximum use of it when the weather gets into full swing. (Of course, by the time next year rolls around, you may find yourself having to do the whole thing again – families with small children are particularly prone to accumulating this sort of ‘stuff’!)

Cutting and pruning your branches

The winter can be equally unkind to trees and larger shrubs, so you’ll also want to look at those to see if they can be pruned – especially low-hanging or particularly fragile branches. These can pose an active danger to your and your family if left to their own devices, and quite apart from that, they won’t make your garden look that pretty either. Similarly, it’s a good plan to look around for any branches or dead leaves left on the floor.

This is where hiring a skip can come in handy. We’ve written a whole post on why skip hire is the best option for your garden waste, and what’s more we’ve got a great range of skip sizes to choose from, too. All it takes is for you to enter your postcode in the field at the top of this page, and we’ll show you an instant online quote for skip hire. It’s never been easier!