Member Article

Gorgeous gardens for all during National Gardening Week!

As spring has sprung and the country marks National Gardening Week (11-17th April), now is the perfect time to consider getting your garden summer ready. However, it can seem like a daunting task for those of us that aren’t green-fingered. With that in mind, John Whitworth, the garden landscaper at all Barratt Homes Yorkshire West Developments and owner of Evergreen Landscape Contractors, offers his top tips for making the most of your garden.

In your new home In a new Barratt Home, your contractor will have turfed your garden before you move in, leaving you a turf care sheet. It’s important to follow this to the letter to keep your garden in the best possible condition. The garden will likely be quite soft in the early stages so keep off it and let it settle before you start to use it - many perfectly flat gardens have been ruined by premature use! It’s the only living part of your new purchase, so it must be treated with care.

Spring spruce up If your greenery is in need of a little facelift after the colder months, take out all the weeds that have sneaked into the garden over the winter, lightly till the soil by adding a mulch (compost or bark chippings), and cut a clean edge on all your beds. This will leave you with a neat, well-defined garden ready for the coming year.

Plants for beginners There are lots of easy plants for the less green-fingered amongst us - generally the plants that are slightly cheaper are the ones that are easy going and more vigorous, ranging up to the more expensive plants that command a premium because of their slow growing nature and the amount they are likely to spread. The best thing to do is ask the experts when you’re looking to buy new plants as they’ll be able to provide tailored advice for you and your garden.

Quick improvements If you’re looking for a few fast and low cost ways to improve the look of your garden, try adding pots with seasonal colour or bedding plants. Plant in pots or half square metre areas that will lift your garden on a temporary basis. Box topiary plants in pots can also add a ‘wow’ factor to the front of the house, but can be a little more costly.

Soil type and plant positions Any new plants will grow better if you consider the ideal growing positions for them. Don’t worry - all plants from garden centres include very descriptive labels which detail; height; spread; flowering times; soil preferences and plant aspect. Follow these as best you can - a good tip is to go to your garden centre or nursery each month to see what catches your eye and if you can provide the plant with its requirements, buy it. That way you will finish with a shrub bed that has year round interest.

Barratt Homes offers a wide range of homes across its developments, which are available using Help to Buy. Dedicated sales advisors are on hand to help first time buyers move at ease, every step of the way.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Richard Savage .