Why should you start preparing for Spring Garden now?

by Thomas Cramphon Professional Gardener

It is the perfect time of the weather in London to give a quick start to Spring Garden Planning and preparation. The weather outside might be still too cool and rainy or cloudy otherwise. But, if you’re planning to grow a garden this spring, choose a site and prepare your soil.

While the season of spring is already in and the weather is ever changing from cool to wet and dry, what you can do is start to plan and design for your garden in order to get a fresh and early start to gardening in spring 2018.

Spring 2018 Garden Plans

Coming out with a realistic plan could save you lots of time and money. It can as well give you the peace of mind as you move towards the warmer months. Here are a few steps to help you get started.

If there’s still snow, take out your snowplough or salt spreader, or contact a snow clearing service either run privately or through the municipality.
Take out all your tools and equipment and thoroughly clean it and start maintaining. Since all your garden equipment were kept aside during these winter months, clean them and oil rakes, forks and shovels. Run gas-powered equipment until the tanks are empty, clean the blades and perform any necessary servicing. Replace equipment that no longer works.
Prune rose bushes and trees before the first buds begin to show.
Plan new gardens and do yard renovations before the busy spring months.
Research and plan for your spring and summer vegetable garden.
Prepare your soil for growing vegetables by turning the soil over in advance, ideally digging 6 to 12 inches deep. Add organic matter in the form of compost, leaves, rotted manure or seaweed. If you don’t have your own compost, you can often find it for free or for sale.
Designate three or four garden plots if possible to rotate crops- a traditional method of plot management in which vegetables with like needs are grouped together. If you have been cultivating the same category of crops in the same plots for more than 3 years, then change the plots to avoid the build-up of pests and diseases that can occur when the same crops grow in the same spot year after year. Planning for crop rotation also allows you to prepare and feed soil in an ideal way for each crop.
Think about the lessons learned in the past years when planning this year’s garden (the failures and the success).
Select and order seeds
Collect supplies for seed starting such as pots, soil, etc.
Read up on those new crops you plan to grow for advice
Find supplies you need (compost, wood, etc.) for enlarging your current garden space
Finally, this is the ideal time to contact a landscape contractor about updating, remodelling, or totally reinstalling your yard. Don’t wait to make your initial calls, because most of the quality gardeners or landscapers get busy after March or even before that. So plan ahead!