Page 58 • The HERALD • 30th March 2023 v THE NEXT HERALD IS OUT ON 20TH APRIL v ✿ DOWN THE GARDEN PATH ✿ RYAN FENCING Quality Fencing & Gates 07769 706516 • 023 8084 1203 www.ryan-fencing.co.uk • Find us on Facebook Smithwood Landscaping Professional Gardening & Landscaping • Garden Redesign • Astro Turf • Trees & Shrubs Carefully Pruned • Rockeries Designed • Fencing • Ground Cover • Seasonal Tidy Ups No Job Too Small as I am a Local Gardener Any advice over the phone is freely given Contact Gary (Master Landscaper) 07707 433194 All Aspects of Garden Work Undertaken • Driveways • Paving • Artificial Grass • Turfing • Decking • Fencing • Hedge Cutting • Landscaping Hythe Garden Contractors Family company established 1977 For a free quotation please call 023 8084 3556 or 023 8084 0378 8 Things You Need To Do in Your Garden To Be Prepared For Spring Advice from CGC Interiors (cgcinteriors.co.uk) Preparing your garden for spring is essential if you want to ensure a healthy and productive growing season. Winter weather can damage the soil structure, making it more compact and harder for plants to grow. Preparing your garden for spring involves a lot of prep work before Spring begins as it means that you can plan for what you want to achieve throughout the year and make sure that happens in your outdoor space. Clean up: Start by clearing away any dead leaves, weeds, and debris from your garden beds, this will allow your plants to get the sunlight, air, and water they need to grow. Over the winter, it is common for maintaining your garden to be put by the wayside because of the colder weather but it is easy to get on top of this again and clear this to give your new plants all of the opportunity they can to grow. Prune: Cut back any dead or damaged branches from your trees and shrubs. Prune any overgrown bushes or trees to encourage healthy growth. Pruning may seem like a daunting task in the beginning as you may be worried that what you cut away won’t come back, but that isn’t the case. It will come back healthier and stronger throughout the year. Test your soil: Test your soil to see what nutrients it needs. Add any necessary amendments to improve its quality, such as compost or fertilizer. By doing into account the size, height, and light requirements of each plant. is will mean that you won’t have to move any once the process has started as that may hinder the plant’s growth. Prepare your beds: Add a layer of compost or other organic matter to your garden beds to improve the soil’s fertility and structure. is will help your plants for the rest of the year to grow to their full potential. Start seedlings indoors: If you plan to start your garden from seeds, start them indoors in pots a few weeks before the last frost date. is is a great way to give yourself a head start, as you don’t need to do this in the garden and can simply transfer them from the pot into the soil when it is time to plant them. Mulch: Mulch your garden beds to help retainmoisture, suppress weeds, and regulate soil temperature. ey can be used on established beds and specimen plants as well as around new plantings. Any time of year is a good time to mulch new plants that need to get established so that they can bene t from weed control and soil moisture retention. Service your tools: Sharpen your pruning shears, clean your shovels, and oil any moving parts on your gardening tools to ensure they are in good working order. During Summer, you are using tools so much that it doesn’t seem necessary to clean them a er every use and then in Winter it is easy to forget to clean them as you won’t be using them. Take advantage of this time you have to prepare them properly for when you’ll be using them again. this it allows you to get one step ahead within your planning as you won’t get any unexpected nasty surprises when your plants and owers begin to grow. Plan your planting: Decide what you want to plant and where. Create a planting plan that takes BLACKFIELD FLOWER CLUB e next Black eld Flower Club meeting will take place on Tuesday 11th April for a ‘Buttons and Bows’ Workshop - how to make buttonholes and attractive bows. On Tuesday 9th May will be a demonstration by Jennifer ompson ‘Fish go Deep’ Meetings take place on the second Tuesday, 2pm, at the Royal British Legion Club, Exbury Road, Black eld, SO45 1XD – visitors welcome, please contact Jan Gordon on: 023 8084 4835 for more details. Woodlands Gardening Club meets on the second Tuesday of the month. Meetings start at 7.30pm at Netley Marsh Community Hall, Woodlands Road, Netley Marsh. e next meeting takes place on Tuesday 11th April for a talk by Gerald Ponting titled ‘Flowers of Reserves and Roadsides’. Visitors are very welcome at £2.50; for more information about the club, call Susanna on: 023 8029 2953. Black eld Gardening Club next meeting will be on Tuesday 11th April for a talk by Geo Hawkins titled ‘Wild Flowers’. All meetings take place on the second Tuesday in the month and start at 7.30pm at Good Shepherd Church, o Roewood Road, Holbury SO45 2JP. ey are really looking forward to seeing members and visitors again (visitors £2). Enquiries please call: 023 8024 3795. Flowers of Reserves and Roadsides Wild Flowers
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTIyNzI=