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With half an hour to spare or a weekend stretching before you, turn your attention to that dull spot on the balcony or in the yard. With input from garden experts and enthusiasts and the helpful Bunnings Greenlife team, we’ve rounded up 15 spring gardening tips to brighten up your world.
Set off your spring flowers to best advantage with a fresh backdrop. Mud, moss, mould and rust spots might be marring hard surfaces after winter, so pull out the water blaster and give concrete, pavers and decking boards a good clean.
Deciduous or spring-flowering trees stunningly announce that spring has sprung! For a dramatic display, horticulturist Tammy Huynh suggests ornamental pear, plum, cherries and crabapples, and scarlet hawthorn (Crataegus laevigata ‘Paul’s Scarlet’), which blossom on leafless branches.
Use pots to create a lush garden scene on hard surfaces, like balconies or patios. The secret to success is good potting mix, says Bunnings Greenlife buyer Riely Kerr-Phillips. “Shorter shelf-life items like herbs, veges and flowering annuals need fresh potting media each time they are planted,” she says. “Longer lived perennials, trees and shrubs can be re-potted every couple of years (depending on pot size) as long as slow release fertiliser is added in spring to encourage plant growth.”
Plants need access to the right nutrients to put on a show. Replenish beds, pots and planters in early spring with compost and slow-release fertiliser to provide nutrients over the growing season. Boost plants midseason with a liquid fertiliser. When diluted in water, it’s available for plants to use as soon as applied, says Riely. “Seaweed tonics are also great.”
Look to your borders, pruning hedges and smartening up any damaged fences. A new coat of paint or stain can have timber fences looking top notch. Tip: dark colours like black and charcoal recede into the background (visually blurring the boundaries of your garden) and make green foliage in front pop.
First pull out pesky weeds then give garden beds a bit of care and attention. “Before planting, add organic material or mulch to increase soil water and nutrient-holding capacity,” advises Riely. “Mulch helps with weed suppression, which is important prior to spring when new weed seeds are germinating.”
Shoots emerging from bare earth signal winter is on its way out. Bulbs are a long-term investment, planted in autumn and appearing in spring. Options include elegant hyacinth cones and cheery anemones. Riely suggests daffodil ‘Early Cheer’ (Erlicheer) which flowers winter into spring and has a strong perfume. If you don’t have bulbs in the ground already, plan your autumn plantings now for next spring.
Fragrance is one of the first signs of spring, from the first subtle waft of jasmine early in the season, to the complex perfume of a full garden in bloom. Tammy Huynh’s favourite picks for fragrant spring flowers are star jasmine, stephanotis, hyacinths, roses, gardenia and dianthus. Lavender is a signature scent of the warmer months, and Riely Kerr-Phillips recommends the compact and prolific flowering Lavender ‘Bee Brilliant’.
Enjoying a blooming garden beyond the first flush of flowers requires strategic planning. Use the ‘succession planting’ method on annuals, setting seed at two or three week intervals for an extended flowering season. “Have a range of different plant types, including bulbs, seedlings, perennials and annuals,” suggests Riely.
Deadheading flowers keeps a garden tidy and encourages more flowers, as plants put energy into producing blooms, rather than developing seeds. Do this by practising pottering: wander through the garden daily to soak up the beauty – and snip, snip as you go.
The selection of pots for outdoor use has grown substantially from the standard terracotta, embracing interesting tones, from wine red to sage, that will add colour to a deck or patio. Use contrast for greatest impact – a black trough against a white wall, or cheerful teal in a gloomy corner.
Choose hardy species that will thrive in containers and be more likely to survive a move or mild neglect. “Rosemary is great as it’s hardy and useful for cooking, too,” says Riely. “Place potted geraniums in sunny spots; mandevilla is another full-sun option that lasts well in a pot and provides lovely colour,” she says.
The flutter and chirp of birds add life and interest to a garden. Attract more of these cheery little creatures by planting native trees and shrubs that are local to your area, and adding a pretty birdbath. Spring is a busy time for birds and post-winter food may be scarce, so give them energy with a feeder of suitable wild bird seed mix.
Beneficial insects, like bees, are an integral part of a healthy garden ecosystem – and fat little fuzzy bees and graceful butterflies flower-hopping are a joy to behold. To attract pollinators, grow a diverse range of flowers, group loads of them together, and concentrate on colours that bees love. “White, blue and purple-coloured flowers are good attractors for bees,” says Riely. “Daisy and lavender are great plant options.”
Leaf-eating pests are the enemies of baby spring plants. “Keep an eye out for slugs and snails,” says Riely. “When there are juicy young plants around and lots of moisture, these pests are around, too. But it’s important to use animal- and child-friendly controls,” she adds.
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