The cooler months may have you thinking the garden needs little to no maintenance but attending to your plants in winter will prepare it just in time for spring. Unlike summer, you won’t have to worry so much about your garden losing moisture, but it’s still important to protect your plants from the cooler temperatures – especially if they aren’t built to endure colder weather. Keep your garden in top form with the following garden care maintenance tips:
Flower garden care and maintenance tips
Flower garden care tip #1: Regularly water your garden
During winter it’s still just as important to water your flowers, though it doesn’t need to be quite as regular as the summer months. Considering the species of flower (lavender for example, needs little water) it’s worth doing a little of research just in case you over water. Over watering can lead to fungal diseases or cause the soil to clump together and stop oxygen from getting to the roots of the plant.
Flower garden care tip #2: Soil is your garden’s best friend
A good quality garden soil can make or break your garden. Too much moisture, and it creates the perfect environment for fungi and weeds to flourish. Too little soil, and it’ll absorb all the moisture that’s meant to go to your plants. A soil that contains a good mix of silt, clay, and other nourishing organic matter is key to helping your flowers thrive.
Flower garden care tip #2: Use the right fertiliser
Just like you wouldn’t put diesel in a petrol tank, so too can the same thing be said for fertilising your flowers. If a fertiliser has harsh chemicals, or a plant has been treated too frequently with a fertiliser that contains a lot of nitrogen salts, it can cause the plant to go into osmotic stress or ‘fertiliser burn.’ You can avoid fertiliser burn by choosing good quality fertiliser and keeping to the amounts suggested
Flower garden care tip #3: Remove weeds
Weeds naturally compete with flowers for nutritional resources and can quickly overpower a garden if left too long. Weeding by hand is advised if you have a small garden, but for a gardening hoe may be required for large ones. But aside from getting regularly stuck into the garden, using mulch can also benefit your flower garden as the mulch blocks light from reaching the soil – which makes for an unideal climate for pesky weeds.
Flower garden care tip #4: Mulch your garden
Mulch is imperative to conserving soil moisture and acts as a great deterrent to weeds. Popular mulch materials such as shredded bark help retain water and allow nutrients to be slowly released to the plants. A good quality mulch and soil combination will give your flowers the perfect environment to thrive in.
Flower garden care tip #5: Keep an eye out for pests
Weeds aren’t the only pest you need to keep an eye out for – insects are too! Recognised for its signature bite marks in leaves, aphid insects are one of the most common garden pests and the most destructive. You can try for the natural route and use organic ingredients such as garlic repellent or floating row covers or hit them fast with some good quality pesticide.
Flower garden care tip #6: Recognise plant diseases
Ever looked at a plant’s leaves and noticed irregular dark blotches on them? That’s likely a fungal disease. Fungal diseases can quickly take over a plant and advance from brown patches to large scale rotting or wilting. When it comes to plant diseases, viruses and fungi, prevention will go a long way. You can do this by keeping plants far apart from enough to allow for enough air circulation (and to prevent spreading) and immediately removing plant parts that appear to have been affected.
Are you building a garden and need some more tips on how to take care of it properly? Get in touch with us on (07) 3373 4999 or visit us today for more garden care advice, and the largest range of landscaping supplies Brisbane wide.