Seasonal Garden Maintenance Checklist For All Landscapes
Garden maintenance is essential for a healthy, attractive garden and is required at all times of the year. To keep up with the changing demands of your outdoor space, you need to be prepared to offer garden maintenance throughout the seasons and adjust your routine accordingly.
While many homeowners focus on garden maintenance during the spring and summer months, when they begin to spend more time outdoors, your garden deserves more. Maintenance is not a one-time job, but an ongoing commitment and the foundation to a healthy, thriving landscape.
As a leading landscaping company, Taming Mother Nature understands the value of year-round garden maintenance. This is a focus for our company and a service we are extremely proud to offer. Using our experience in this field, we are sharing a comprehensive guide to year-round garden maintenance to help everyone, from novice gardeners to busy homeowners, make the most of their outdoor space throughout the seasons.
Spring Garden Maintenance Checklist: Bringing Your Garden To Life
After the harsh winter weather and dormant period for most plants, spring is a time of rejuvenation. This season is the ideal time to refresh your outdoor space and bring it back to life, ready for the upcoming spring and summer blooms.
To do this, a lot of garden maintenance is required to support the growing landscape and create an environment you enjoy being in. Some of the most vital maintenance tasks during this time include:
Pruning And Deadheading
Pruning shrubs and trees to remove dead, damaged or diseased branches that are left over from winter provides them with more energy to support new growth.
The same process can be done with winter-blooming flowers or early bloomers through deadheading as soon as they fade. This helps the plant conserve energy, which can be used to support new growth and ensure the flowers return next season.
Soil Preparation
A key part of garden maintenance during the spring is getting your garden ready for the new life it will soon support. Soil conditions are essential to supporting plant growth and health, and therefore need to be adjusted accordingly. During this season, take your time to assess your current soil conditions in all planting areas to determine what kind of support is needed.
Aerate the lawn and planting areas to allow for deeper absorption of water and nutrients. Compost and organic mulch are easy, affordable ways to improve soil conditions and should be applied across all planting areas ahead of new growth or seeds.
Spring Planting
Spring is the ideal time to bring new life into your garden, and planting plays a key role in garden maintenance. Bulbs, perennials, and container flowers are a great way to add colour to your landscape this season and can be adjusted to suit all kinds of garden design.
This season is also an ideal time to lay new turf, if your garden needs a refresh.
Weeding
Weeding is an ongoing part of garden maintenance, and your work begins in spring, as everything begins growing under the warmer weather.
Keep on top of your weeding and ensure this is part of your regular garden maintenance schedule throughout the spring, and beyond, to avoid your landscape coming overrun with unsightly weeds and overgrown grass.
Paving And Patio Cleaning
Now is a great time to get your hardscaping cleaned to remove any remaining winter debris or grime. Get these spaces ready for use as the weather conditions to get warmer and ensure your garden is a safe, attractive environment you can enjoy.
Summer Garden Maintenance Checklist: A Landscape You Can Enjoy
Summer is the ideal time to get outdoors and enjoy your hard work. This is the best time of year for most plants and flowers, ensuring your landscape will be full of life and colour. To take advantage of this, and the warm, longer days, you need to keep on top of garden maintenance tasks such as:
Watering
The hot, dry weather of the season can cause a lot of issues for your plants, which is why regular watering is a key part of summer garden maintenance. Make this a part of your daily routine during the summer, and water your plants, containers, and lawn during the cooler parts of the day.
In either the early morning or late evening, use a watering can for gentle watering of containers and flower beds, or a hose pipe (as long as no bans are in place) for wider-reaching hydration.
Deadheading And Feeding
Many annuals and spring blooms will have reached the end of their cycle in summer, which is why deadheading remains an important task this season. Deadheading should be done as soon as the flowers start to fade to conserve energy and ensure these plants return next blooming season.
Alongside deadheading, make sure to provide essential nutrients to your flower beds and planting containers to support future growth. Whether you use chemical fertilisers or organic materials such as mulch, feeding during the summer can keep your plants healthy and beautiful in their peak blooming season.
Lawn Care
Lawn maintenance ramps up during summer, as you will see that the warm temperatures and longer sunlight hours cause your grass to grow quickly. Regular lawn mowing is needed throughout the season, but other tasks may also be required.
Aerating the lawn, feeding and watering may also be needed to keep this space lush and healthy. A healthy lawn is the foundation to an attractive summer garden, and this kind of maintenance is ongoing throughout the season to ensure this.
Pest Control
Summer is a lively time of year for wildlife and insects, including the pests you’d rather not have to deal with. During your garden maintenance tasks, keep an eye out for pests such as aphids and slugs, which can damage your plants, and rely on preventative pest control.
It is recommended to use natural pest repellants, such as peppermint oil, garlic, lemon, and thyme or premade organic treatments. Using natural solutions will avoid damaging the rest of your garden and keep the landscape safe for children, pets and guests during the season.
Mulching
If you have not already mulched your garden, summer is the ideal time to do this. A layer of mulch in planting areas can help retain soil moisture as well as provide essential nutrients to the roots of plants as the season progresses.
Those with mulch left over from the spring should replace this layer with fresh, organic materials such as wood chips, manure or compost to protect your plants.
Autumn Garden Maintenance Checklist: Preparing For The Cold
While things may begin to wind down in the autumn, garden maintenance does not stop. There are still several tasks that need to be done throughout this season to ensure your garden remains attractive, healthy and is ready to take on the cold at the end of the year. These tasks include:
Leaf And Debris Clearing
Falling leaves is a classic autumn sight, but they can cause havoc in your garden if left unattended. Leaving debris and organic material, like leaves, in your garden can cause rot and drainage issues, which is why they need to be removed immediately.
Throughout the season, keep on top of debris and leaf removal with regular sweeping of pathways, patios, decks and planting areas. Leaves can be used in compost or mulch, or simply thrown away in the garden waste.
Seasonal Pruning And Preparation
As plants begin to enter their dormant phase, pruning plays a vital role in this season’s garden maintenance. Use these months as an opportunity to cut back shrubs, trees, and perennials, as well as clear flower beds, before the cold sets in.
As you take care of your flower beds, any remaining plants or delicate flowers should be covered to protect them from the frost. Using fleece coverings, tarpaulin or specialised plant coverings, protect your most delicate plants from the cold temperatures ahead of time. Alternatively, bring any potted plants and containers to the home or store in a warm, dry space.
Lawn Care
Autumn is the time of your final mow and an opportunity to prepare your garden for its rest period. After the final mow of your lawn, consider aerating and scarification to support the ongoing health of your grass. These tasks can support its new growth next season and ensure that your grass will return lush and healthy in spring.
Plant Spring Bulbs
While the majority of garden maintenance during the autumn is focused on preparing the garden for the colder weather, it is also a great opportunity to look further into the future. Autumn is a great time to get ahead on next season’s gardening by planting spring bulbs.
By planting these spring flowers now, your garden will begin to bloom and come to life with the changing of the seasons, giving you one less thing to worry about next year.
Winter Garden Maintenance: A Time For Rest And Repair
During the winter, most plants enter their dormant phase, meaning you will not see a lot of life throughout your garden during these months. This does not mean your garden maintenance is over, however, as there are still tasks that can be done to support your landscape for the future, such as:
Tool Maintenance And Checks
Ensure that all tools are cleaned and stored away correctly, ready to use next season. As you will not be using them during the winter months, now is a great time to take stock of what you have, perform any necessary repairs or consider investing in new equipment for the upcoming spring.
Likewise, consider any structural issues with your garden such as the fencing or walls. If anything needs to be upgraded or replaced, consider adding these to your spring garden maintenance checklist for next season and budget accordingly.
Feed Birds And Wildlife
During winter, wildlife needs our help more than ever, and your garden can become a safe haven for local creatures. As you will not be using the space much during the winter, it can become a supportive habitat for birds and wildlife by offering food, shelter and hydration.
Consider adding bird feeders, water bowls, and berry-producing shrubs to support local wildlife during this season.
Minimal Pruning
While structural pruning and shaping are not required during the winter, and should be avoided as it could damage your plants, some care will be needed. Pruning may be used to remove dead, diseased or storm-damaged branches from your structures to ensure they remain safe and healthy.
Now is also the ideal time to ensure that all trees and tall structures are secured in place, protecting them during the harsh winter weather.
Conclusion
Garden maintenance is not a one-time job, but rather an ongoing commitment for home and land owners alike. Taking care of your garden is required throughout the year, and the tasks needed will vary based on the season.
By following these checklists, you can support the growing needs of your landscape at all times of the year and maintain a safe, attractive and thriving outdoor space no matter the weather.
For additional support and garden maintenance advice, consider working with professionals like Taming Mother Nature, as we offer garden maintenance throughout the year as well as additional landscaping services to meet your needs.
Contact Us Today
To learn more about our services or request a quote, please contact the team today.
FAQs
What is the most important garden maintenance task?
The most important task will vary based on the season, but in most cases, consistent weeding and pruning will make the biggest difference to the health and appearance of your landscape.
Where should I start with garden maintenance if my garden has been neglected?
If your garden has been neglected for some time, you can begin taking care of it by clearing weeds and pruning overgrowth. This will allow you to see what else you are working with, and what tasks need to be prioritised from here.
Should I hire someone for seasonal garden maintenance?
If you’re short on time, do not know where to start or simply have no interest in gardening, working with professionals like Taming Mother Nature is a great way to keep your landscape healthy and attractive. We offer garden maintenance throughout the year and can work with all requirements.
