Should you strip your garden right back this Spring?

We all know about the need to get our houses in order when spring comes around. There’s just something refreshing about the chance to strip back and start again, finally getting rid of clutter, and rearranging your rooms for a fresh, dirt-free summer of fun.

Interestingly, even though summer is the prime time for our gardens, few of us consider implementing this same mindset to our outdoor spaces. Instead, we do a bit of pruning, run the mower over the lawn, and assume that we’re good to go.

In reality, however, our gardens need even more attention at this time of year than our homes do, and if you’ve neglected that fact, you may well be best off stripping things back and starting again this spring. After all, neglected gardens can be difficult to get a grip on, and sometimes, rubbish skips and hard work are the only ways to get the outside space you want ready for summer. Here, we’re going to consider three sure signs that you could benefit from this deep clean approach this spring season.

# 1 – You don’t know where to start

In an ideal world, spring-cleaning (inside and out) should be about improving existing foundations. But, if you’ve never quite got on top with garden prep, then you might not even have a foundation to work from. In this instance, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed, and stripping things back is the best way to do away with that feeling, allowing you to build your dream summer garden from the ground up. This means clearing those piles of undetermined weeds and greenery, pruning your hedges, and generally finding some shape in the madness.

# 2 – Plants aren’t budding the way that they should

If you aren’t a gardening natural, it’s possible that you simply wait for your perennial plants to bloom each year. But, if they aren’t growing the way that they usually would this season, it suggests you might need to start again.

This can happen for a few different reasons, including overcrowding, poor soil quality, or even just the fact that you haven’t pruned last year’s crop (perennial flowers only grow on fresh branches.) In each instance, it’s unlikely that any other effort apart from a complete replanting is going to make a difference, and acting now is fundamental to ensure summer blooms.

# 3 – Weeds are taking over

Weeds typically go wild when the warmer weather rolls around, and they can do severe damage if left unchecked. Most worryingly, if weeds have taken over, there’s a chance they’re already killed any flowers or grass that they’ve inhabited.

Far from simply removing those weeds, then, you may need to replant flowers, relay turf, and generally take this chance to perfect a weed-free summer garden that’s raring to go.

Once you’ve taken these extreme spring-cleaning measures, you should find that the task gets easier to tackle each year until, finally, you perfect an approach that sees you cleaning your garden as easily as you clean your home.

Photo by Neslihan Gunaydin