Gardening activities for self-isolators

Spring is a crucial time in the gardening calendar and seeing as many of you are at home at the moment, you can still get several jobs ticked off your list. Many of these don’t need any particular outlay or for you to put yourself or anyone else at risk.

We would urge you, however, to continue to support your local garden machinery dealers. Many will be able to make deliveries, so get in touch with them and see what they can do. 

General clean up

With the recent storms there will be debris all over your garden. Use this time to have a really good tidy up, pressure wash your paths, clean out your gutters, remove any soggy leaves, sticks or stones that are still hanging around.

You can also use this time to organise your shed and clean up your tools. Remove old debris and sharpen them if you have the ability to do so.

As the temperatures increase so will the weeds, so keep on top of them so that they don’t overtake and give you a bigger job later in Spring. 

If you have an empty garden bin then why not tackle some of your overgrown shrubs too.

First mow of the year

Your lawns are likely to still be quite waterlogged, so you may still need to wait a few weeks until you can do this.

The best time is generally when air temperatures are in the mid- teens, which stimulates some grass growth which is often seen in late March / April. While you are waiting for this, check over your lawn mower – is it still in working condition and are the blades still sharp?

When you do eventually start mowing, don’t cut too much too soon – as this could lead to disease and weed infestation. Keep it on a high cut.

If you have access to some, sow grass seed to fill in any patches that look a little worse for wear, sowing at a rate of 35grams/ m². Be aware if you do this you may need to wait to mow the lawn so you don’t damage the new grass.

Plan and create new habits

Have a look at some seed catalogues online. Start to plan your borders and bedding plants. You can choose your plug plants to put in later.

Get into that habit of spending time each day in your garden. Make it a ritual to have your morning cup of tea out there. Schedules are really important when everything is strange.

Enjoy your garden as a leisure activity – walk up and down and enjoy the fresh air. How often do we really have the time to enjoy our home environments and enjoy our gardens like this?

(As with all of our suggestions, please be careful not to over do it or to put yourself or anyone else at risk.)