Spring/Early Summer tips
Spring is when the garden starts to wake up and is a busy time for gardeners to prepare the garden for both blooming flowers and scrumptious fruit and vegetables.
All of the autumn and winter garden waste and kitchen waste will have started to rot down to produce important nutrients for the new plants, and to help produce stronger new shoots on your existing plants. Remember to keep adding to the compost bin to keep a constant flow of compost for the forth coming months.
Ghoulish gourds
Households that look forward to the ghostly antics of Halloween can use their compost bins to help prepare for the spooky activities; a compost bin that is ready to spread on the garden but is surplus to requirements provides the perfect conditions to grow plump pumpkins as well as squashes or marrows.
Place young plants into the well-rotted compost in April or May and they’ll be ready to be harvested for the 31st of October.
Pretty pots
To make sure that your terrace or patio pots and tubs don’t let you down try giving them a facelift by adding sieved compost. The lovely smooth look (of sieved finished compost) is far more ‘this season’ than the rough, ‘au naturel’ look of last year!
Lush lawns
In early March use a long-pronged metal rake to remove all the dead grass leftover from the colder months. Put the ‘thatch’ into your compost bin and then give your lawn a good feed with the compost that is ready. By the time friends and family are arriving for the first BBQs and garden parties of the summer, the grass will be lush and healthy.
Pond power
After the dark and dreary winter months the garden pond can look less than picturesque. A good clean is well worth the effort but inevitably results in a mass of slushy muck being removed. However, you should remember that this makes a great addition to a dry compost bin in need of a boost!
Shrub’bish
Spring is the time to prune the hardier members of the shrubbery; the dead and unwanted stems and leaves from roses and pampas grass make a great addition to the compost bin.
Bulb boost
As the floral summer displays take over from the daffodils and tulips in early summer don’t forget that bulb greenery can be composted; just make sure that the bulbs have started to go brown indicating that all the available goodness has been absorbed.
Dust buster
The annual Spring clean of the home produces bags full of vacuumed up dirt and dust, a perfect addition to your compost bin.
Clean fingers
Spring cleaning is not just for the house; hanging baskets, patio tubs and garden beds will also need a good tidy up. Winter pansies and violas, annual primulas and polyanthus all need to be cleared and put into the compost bin. Leftover used compost can also be put back into the bin.
Moisturise with mulch
When planting new shrubs in the spring give them a really good water and mulch heavily with compost; the additional moisture that the mulch will hold means that you’ll have to do less watering throughout the growing season.
Comp’otting
To germinate seeds ready for summer planting place them in pots of compost and soil, cover with cling film and place them on a sunny windowsill. When the last chances of the frost have gone, plant them out in the garden beds.
Fantastic fruit
In early spring plant new fruit trees and bushes and prune existing ones, then give them all a good drink of water and mulch with compost. This locks in all the moisture needed to produce bright, plump and tasty fruits.
Furry friends
As summer approaches family pets shed their toasty winter coats. Unwanted dog, cat and rabbit hair, like human hair, can be added to the compost bin.
Cover-up
As the heat rises make sure that compost bins are covered and kept in the shade to avoid the compost drying out.
