How to Look After Your Garden

Gardening is often seen as a therapeutic and calming activity: many hospitals and hospices encourage patients to use gardening to improve their health. Yet taking care of a garden can be very hard work, and there is a lot more to it than merely pulling out a few weeds. Different plants and flowers require different treatments at various times of year, trees, shrubs and bushes also require regular trims and care at the right time of year. So here are some key things to remember when treating your garden.

Keeping your plants hydrated is one of the most important things in keeping a healthy garden, especially in summer when the weather is warmer and water evaporates more quickly. For plants in the soil, it is almost impossible to over-water them, as there is more soil mass and other plant roots to soak up the water. It is better to use more of a showered stream of water when watering plants as a jet stream hose can damage the soil.

For potted plants however, it is very important that they are not given too much water as this can kill them very easily. An advantage with potted plants is that you can stand them on a saucer filled with water and let the plant drink itself, which avoids the common problem of wet soil on top and dehydrated underneath. However, they should not stand in water for longer than thirty minutes or you will risk damaging the roots.

Some plants vary from others when they need to be fed, and how often, but generally speaking there is no need to feed them in winter when it is more likely that they will be killed by the cold. You can also attach a feeder to your house to distribute the feed evenly when watering.

Pruning and the de-heading of plants is an excellent way to encourage growth, and fuller growth at that. By removing the flowers of the plant you are stopping it being able to sow its seeds in order to reproduce. As this is such an important part of the plant’s life cycle, it will reform with no problem, as long as it is done correctly. If a plant is pruned too late in the year, the subsequent growth will only end up being killed off by the colder weather, and so is a waste of time. At worst, bad pruning may see less flowers than usual, but will not cause permanent damage.

Pruning should only be done with adequate equipment, such as hand-pruners, loppers, shearers and saws.

Trees have a huge influence in shaping a garden. As they are different to general plants and flowers found in gardens, they deserve their own section. Often, they are inherited and require little to no work as they can stand for centuries living self-sufficiently, but if you plan to plant your own, they require a lot of care and patience. This being said, a tree of any age still requires some care to keep it healthy.

Tree pruning can be used for commercial reasons, perhaps if a tree is growing over a neighbour’s fence, or branches are covering a public footpath and need to be cut back. Or, tree pruning is used to remove diseased, damaged or dead parts of the tree in order to encourage it to grow again just like other garden plants. Just like plants, trees can be pruned to encourage fuller blossoming, this should be done shortly after they have flowered.

Tree felling (cutting down a tree) should only be a last resort, and if necessary another tree should be planted in its place. If the tree’s removal was for commercial reasons as mentioned above, the new tree can be planted elsewhere to prevent the problem recurring.

Due to the naturally larger size of trees compared to plants, and because of how valuable they are to our environment, if you are unsure of the cause of any problems with a tree, it is better to contact a tree surgeon for an expert opinion in order to try and save it, rather than remove it completely. Tree surgeons can be found all over the country, but if you are looking for a local tree surgeon Horsham, Reigate and Dorking and surrounding areas are all easily accessible.

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Sources:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/
http://www.bhg.com/gardening/yard/
http://www.gardenersworld.com/plants/
http://www.growveg.com/growblogpost.aspx?id=193
http://gardening.about.com/od/pruningplants/a/Pruning_FAQ.htm