Top gardening jobs for spring – Which? News

With spring already sprung and colours beginning to burst into life, it’s time to spring clean your outside oasis and make the most of being outdoors.

From mowing your lawn to sprucing up your patios and decking, we’ve rounded up the top jobs to focus on this spring.

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Lawn maintenance

Feed your lawn using a spring or summer fertiliser. This will help keep it green and help to prevent weeds and moss developing.

Spiking the surface of your lawn with aerating sandals or a garden fork promotes drainage and allows for air and nutrients to penetrate the soil encouraging healthy growth.

Prevent moss developing by thinning out growth of nearby plants and trees that create shade.

Your lawn will be in its growing season so mowing regularly keeps the lawn in good health but ideally do so when the grass is dry as you’ll get a better finish. Don’t mow if it’s frosty outside as this can damage the grass.

Set the blades on their highest setting so you don’t scalp the grass. Don’t lower them too much over the coming weeks as cutting at a higher height allows daisies and other lawn plants to flower and help pollinators, and the grass is also more likely to stay lush and green if we get any dry spells.

Conversely, the RHS encourages No Mow May to allow wildflowers to grow and encourage and support wildlife.

When using a lawn mower or grass trimmer, be mindful of hedgehogs. They’ve recently been reclassified as vulnerable to extinction. Look out for nests that look like piles of leaves. If approached, their natural defence is to curl up into a ball rather than run away, so leave it to naturally move on.

Take a look at our Best Buy lawn mowers.

Sow some seeds

Prepare your soil for germination by digging and raking the soil to remove weed roots and create a fine tilth.

Spring is a good time for sowing wild flower seeds, herbs and hardy annuals including poppies, sunflowers and pot marigolds.

You can also start planting your vegetable patch with early potatoes, asparagus crowns and onions.

Some veg, such as cucumbers, courgettes and squash, are sensitive to frost and so should be sown indoors in April and then planted outdoors in mid to late May. Use a Best Buy compost for sowing seeds and either keep them on a sunny windowsill or in a greenhouse.

Discover the best places to buy seeds and plants online.

Plant summer-flowering bulbs

April is all about spring-flowering bulbs, such as daffodils and tulips, but it’s also the month to plant summer ones, such as gladioli, eucomis and galtonia. Plant them at the depth recommended on the packaging and mark where you’ve put them so you don’t disturb them by accident.

Pot up plug plants and seedlings

Buying plug plants is a great way of filling your borders and veg patch cheaply without sowing seeds. They’re often only a few centimetres tall and have a delicate root system.

Summer flowers, such as pelargoniums, fuchsias and petunias, can all be bought as plug plants, either from the garden centre or online. When they arrive, take them out of their packaging straight away, even if you can’t pot them up, as they need plenty of light. Pot them up into a Best Buy compost for raising young plants and keep them in a sunny windowsill or greenhouse until the danger of frost has passed in mid- to late May when they can go outdoors.

Spruce up your patio or decking

Get rid of winter grime with a stiff brush or a pressure washer, which will make the job a lot easier and the results will be better. While you’re at it, wipe down your furniture to remove any algae. Be careful not to blast things with a pressure washer as when it’s at too high a pressure it can cause damage, especially to delicate surfaces such as wood.

If the mood takes you, you could also spring clean your car using your pressure washer.

Discover our Best Buy pressure washers.