In the garden with Gerry Daly: making plans

There is a little time now as the growing season ratchets up to review all aspects of your garden and see what can be made easier and better. One of the biggest problems that we all face in the garden is the burden of maintenance.

If we are struggling to simply keep the grass cut, it is very unlikely that we are ever going to finally get that patio laid or that new border planted. Part of the plan might be to see how we can reduce the existing workload in a more efficient way.

Something as simple as reducing the number of pots or containers, and reducing the frequency of watering, or installing an inexpensive drip-irrigation system, can make life easier and free up time for other aspects of the garden.

Matching the area of vegetables grown more closely to real needs will reduce the time and effort in vegetable growing. Reducing the area of lawn by widening beds and borders and letting plants fill out more can reduce effort.

Cutting down on the staking of plants to the minimum is a great saving. Using more perennial flowers and less bedding makes life easier. Using groundcover, weedkillers and mulches can reduce the effort in maintaining beds and borders weed-free.

If the review of garden activity shows that your time and effort resources are badly stretched as it is, it will underline the inadvisability of setting up new areas or new features that will increase the existing level of effort. On the other hand, if it is possible from the review to make savings on time and effort, then perhaps it is fine to set up new features.

If it is decided that a project or new feature could be possible without increasing workload beyond unsustainable levels, then the project should be subjected to a clear analysis.

It is not always a question of maintenance – it can often be a question of the suitability of the new idea to begin with. Too often the question we ask ourselves is: where can I put a pond/fountain/waterfall or a rockery or paved area? However, the key question is: will the garden really look better with a new feature than it does now? If a feature is just squeezed in because you fancy it, it may not be right.

Part of the consideration of the suitability of a garden feature is its size and location. If a feature is too small, or too large, or in the wrong place, it may be a failure and a waste of time, money and effort.

A bad idea will sometimes improve as plants grow and the scene settles, but more often than not, a bad idea will serve as a constant reminder of a bad decision or mistaken notions – until it is eventually removed.

It is particularly important to judge carefully any project that involves a lot of work or expense. Inexpensive and temporary features do not need to be assessed quite so rigorously, but anything of permanence most certainly does.

If your ideas pass these tests, they are probably going to be successful and give you and others many years of pleasure. Such projects may even prove to be a legacy for future generations, just as we enjoy the efforts of previous generations.

On a less grandiose level, the close assessing of garden projects almost always improves the quality of the idea and the quality of its execution. Plan ahead. Practical things like lifting existing plants out of the way of new features, or ordering seeds to be raised as new plants for planting out later in the year, can be carried out as a result of advance planning. This can save a lot of effort later, and very often planning can save a great deal of expense.

For instance, if you properly assess a project and decide to go ahead, fixing on the location and size, you will have a good idea of the plants and other materials required.

It is almost inevitable that, knowing what you need, you will come across some of these requirements, or suitable similar materials, within a short time of assessing your needs.

This can make a big difference to the successful installation of a project – simply getting it done, and probably also in terms of reducing costs.

It can be the difference between finding the right material at the right price or, all too commonly, having the nasty experience of finding it after you have paid significantly more. Budget may not be a consideration, of course, but it generally is.

So, ease yourself into the new gardening year with a review of the garden, how you garden it, what you get out of it, and what you would like to get out of it.

If you do this exercise, even in the most brief and casual way, you will find that it will inform quite a bit of what you do in the garden for the remainder of the year. It might just be the foundation for your best gardening year yet.

Fruit, vegetables and herbs

The seed potatoes of early varieties can be put in a bright place to sprout for about four or five weeks. Fruit trees and bushes can still be planted during suitable weather. Check for damage to apple trees, pears and plums by bullfinches. These strip the fruit buds between now and April, and netting is the only remedy.

Flowers

Bedding flowers can be started off from seeds in a heated propagator now, but it is still too early for most kinds. Watch for bulbs because they are now pushing through the soil and it surprising how often they are walked on. Border flowers can be lifted and divided if necessary.

Lawn

There has not been much frost and grass has grown a bit in lawns. Mow the grass if there is a suitable dry period when the ground is firm. Lawn moss is best controlled by autumn application of sulphate of iron, but if the moss is now taking over the grass, the mosskiller will help. Trim the edges if the grass has grown out.

Trees, shrubs and roses

Roses can be pruned at any time. Check all trees and shrubs planted last autumn for wind-rocking, especially where the stem meets the ground. There will be rubbing and smoothing of the soil, and water can gather there too. If a shrub or young tree is rocked by wind, there is a good chance of its dying from fraying of the bark at soil level.

Greenhouse and house plants

Check all greenhouse plants for pests such as red spider mites, mealy bugs and scale insects. These are persistent pests, difficult to get rid of, but they are at a low point now due to lower temperatures and lack of growth by their feeding plants. Try to clear these pests before the new seasons growth really gets going.

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