It begins with a good clean out, cut back any overgrown plants, pull out any weeds and give your paved areas a good scrub down and clean. If using chemicals to clean your hard areas, make sure to soak your garden beds before and after the cleaning process to help dilute any chemical build up in the soil.
Improving what you’ve got starts with soil health and try to think of your soil as your plants’ diet – the healthier the soil is, the healthier your plants will be so improve yours with compost, well-rotted manure and organic slow release fertiliser. Always water in fertiliser well to ensure it gets to work quicker.
Mulching is a great way to not only improve the health of your soil by adding organic matter that breaks down but it also helps to suppress all the weeds you just pulled out too. Mulch slows the water into your soil and helps to lock it in there to make watering more effective and it also greatly improves the overall appearance of your garden too so it’s a must do before guests arrive for Christmas.
Keeping the water up to your plants is crucial during the warmer months and there are lots of easy ways to do it. A simple hose and spray nozzle is a great excuse to get away from the in-laws for a few minutes and a retractable hose reel keeps hoses away when not in use so you’ll always look tidy if unexpected guests arrive. We recommend the GARDENA SuperFlex hose coupled with a GARDENA Classic Multi Sprayer or the new Comfort Sensitive Plant Sprayer.
Oscillating and circular sprinklers will make watering larger areas more time efficient and setting a timer will take the stress of remembering to water out of the equation. Connect a GARDENA Mambo or ZoomMaxx to one of GARDENA’s Water Computers and you can sit back and relax.
It’s best to water early in the morning or late in the evening as this is when the least amount of water is lost due to evaporation and, as basic as it may seem, aim water at the base of the plant to direct the moisture directly to the roots of your plants.
