It may still be cold outside but the sun is shining, the birds are singing and it’s time for your garden to come to life after the winter. Your garden will need some help getting back into tip-top condition.

Here are our top 5 tips for getting your spring garden green and beautiful before the season reaches its peak!

1. Prepare your lawn for spring

Maintaining your lawn can be a tedious task during the summer months. It is best to prepare your lawn at this time of year to prevent it being overtaken with weeds and stressed by the heat during the summer months.

First thing is first, remove any debris and leaves that have accumulated over the winter. Using a rake to remove the debris clears up the matted areas of lawn and encourages better air flow throughout the grass. Doing this simple task prevents any disease or insect infection that may occur. It will also allow new blades of grass to grow without a struggle.

Once the lawn is raked, awaken the grass by providing it with well-deserved nutrients. Applying Mo Bacter to your lawn ensures the lawn has the nutrients it needs to withstand any stress throughout the summer months, while killing any moss on the lawn or starting to appear. Sulphate of Iron is an alternative moss killer which can be spread on the lawn during the spring months.

Have you discovered bald spots on your lawn? Reseed them to ensure your lawn is in perfect condition for the summer month. Remember, if the soil is below freezing temperature grass seed won’t grow so ensure you have a few days of heat before you attempt this.

2. Prepare your planting beds

Any weeds you find in your bedding areas are easiest to pull up at this time of the year as the roots are shallow. Remove them as you encounter them and also remove any dead growth from your plants to ensure they thrive with new growth.

Surround the plants in the beds with fresh compost. Compost is a natural slow release fertilsier that will work through the soil without burning your plants. If you would prefer to use a chemical fertiliser, always be careful to follow the application directions, because chemical fertilizers will burn plants when used in excess. The one chemical fertilizer that really is convenient (at least in theory) is the “weed and feed” type that contains a preemergent herbicide to prevent crabgrass.

If you’ve broken ground and opened a new planting bed, it’s a good idea to lay weed control landscape fabric to ensure weeds don’t grow. For the perfect finish, add a layer of mulch. This ensures the weeds won’t get any sunlight and keep them at bay.

3. Pull dead vegetables & thin dead foliage on ornamental ferns and grasses

Clear your vegetable beds and glasshouses from the previous season’s debris. Pull old tomato plants, potatoes and other vegetable plants from the beds and glass house to clear for the new season of planting.

Top Tip: Plant debris can be added to compost if you are sure they do not harbor any plant diseases.

Ornamental plants are very difficult to thin once new growth begins. It can also damage them if pulled during the summer months. This time of the year is perfect to clean up the dead foliage on these plants before the summer growth begins.