- [Kerry] It's time to get ready.
♪ [music] ♪
It's time to get ready for spring in your garden.
Towards the end of winter, it means that it's time to start thinking about what
you can do to set yourself up for a successful spring.
- [Noah] If you don't start now, you'll lose valuable growing time when spring arrives.
As you can see, this garden has been a little neglected over the winter months.
The veggie patch is full of last season's crop, the lawn is overgrown and has become patchy
in some areas, weeds have crept into the garden beds and the brickworks, and there are a few pots that have
seen better days.
- The first thing to do to get ready for spring is a good tidy-up.
Noah's doing the blower vac and collecting the leaves and mulching, and I'm going to prune the lilly pillies.
These lilly pillies make a great hedge and are fast growing.
♪ [music] ♪
Time to get serious now, Noah.
- Sure is. - Okay.
♪ [music] ♪
- I'm tackling another pruning project.
This bay leaf tree's an amazing tree, but it's getting a little bit on the shaggy side.
I'm going to use this pruner on a pole to get right up there and trim it back.
I'm going to remove some of the internal branches to reduce the density and allow more natural light,
which encourages growth.
- Come springtime, these lilly pillies will be looking lush and full of growth.
Always a good idea to apply sea salt to reduce shock.
Noah, can you please turn the hose on for me?
Thank you.
♪ [music] ♪
- Now that the hedges are pruned right back, you can see there is weed growth underneath that we
need to tackle.
This is a common problem when there's no separation between your grass and your garden beds,
and the weeds and grass can continue to run and invade the surrounding areas.
First, I need to tackle these weeds, which I'm going to do the old-fashioned way,
using my muscles.
The best way to create this separation is using garden edging.
I'm going to place this garden edging right around the perimeter to hold the grass back and create a more
formal garden bed.
- I've chosen this natural pine belt mulch because it retains moisture and regulates the soil temperature
for these hedges.
- It'll also help reduce weed growth.
Working on your lawn now will set you up for growth, ensuring you have a luscious lawn in time
for the warmer days.
For this lawn, we're going to focus on tackling the weeds and giving it a good feed.
To do that, I'm going to connect this Weed 'n' Feed to the end of the hose and apply it generously all over.
This will kill any weeds in the lawn and add nutrients to the soil, ready for the growth season.
For some of the larger weeds, I'm using this weed puller to get rid
of them instantly.
♪ [music] ♪
While I'm waiting for the Weed 'n' Feed to dry, I'm going around the edge of the lawn with a
line trimmer, trimming back any grass that has grown over the path.
I'm also using it for the longer blades of grass the lawnmower couldn't quite get to.
♪ [music] ♪
When it comes to weeds in your brickwork, a quick and simple solution is a product like this.
This one is fast-acting, kid and pet friendly, but if you don't want to use any chemicals,
you can always pull weeds out manually too.
♪ [music] ♪
This is a bit of a common problem in your average family backyard.
A well-trodden area, in this case, the kids' cricket pitch,
means the grass has all but given up.
I'm going to aerate the soil and put down some seed, ready for spring.
♪ [music] ♪
- You know [inaudible]. Do you want to try?
- Thank you, Kerry. - You bet.
♪ [music] ♪
Okay, now that I've finished emptying and clearing out these garden beds from the previous season,
I'm getting ready to put next season's vegetable crop in.
But it's very important to remember, if you're going to use the same soil medium,
you must add nutrients.
So I use bags of blood and bone and compost.
I had bags of compost, but over here, we have the tumbler,
so the family will be able to make their own compost in the near future.
♪ [music] ♪
I've planted out these vegetable seedlings, getting ready for early spring.
But now I'd like to add some pea straw mulch to keep them warm and cosy until the weather actually warms up.
Always a good idea to spread it carefully and evenly and not too close to the stems.
♪ [music] ♪
If you've been growing fruit and vegetables for a while and you want to improve your crop yield,
perhaps you should think about bees.
Bees help pollinate your plants and are a great asset to your garden, especially the veggie patch.
There are a few ways to attract more bees to your garden.
The first is to plant as many bee-attracting plants as possible.
We've gone right around the edges of these garden beds and planted nemesia.
Some other suggestions are daisies, as well as some fragrant herbs, like lavender,
oregano, and rosemary.
Yes, lavender is a herb.
A bee hotel is exactly what the name suggests, a place for bees to take shelter if they have been
caught out in bad weather, and they don't have time to return to their hive.
Bad weather can kill bees pretty quickly.
And if they take cover in trees, they become vulnerable to predators,
whereas a bee hotel keeps them out of the weather, but is also small enough so that no birds or large insects
can get in.
- This spot is hit with a really intense afternoon sun, so we're planting these pots out with citrus.
They're hardy and do well in full sun, as long as you keep the water up.
- Overall, I think we've done a really good job.
- I reckon we're ready for spring.
♪ [music] ♪