Spring gardening: Bloom and Grow with Plans, Plants and Prettiness

Spring gardening: Bloom and Grow with Plans, Plants and Prettiness

Spring is the time to start falling back in love with your outdoor space. As old favourite plants peep out of the soil, blossom trees bud, and bulbs begin to flower, all our spirits rise along with the sap.

Whether you’re improving your forever home or seeking inspiration to add thousands to your sale price, March and April are a gardener’s treat.

From choosing plants and sowing seeds to planting window boxes or in-bloom bulbs, adding splashes of spring colour is a real delight in the crisper, brighter days after winter’s gloom.

Even if you think you’re not green-fingered, Spring Gardening can be a surprisingly easy, enjoyable, and enriching way to be outside as the blue skies return, and our guide is bursting with expert tips on:

• Floral spring boosts.
• Sowing and growing.
• Adding zones and zing.
• Summoning the wildlife.
• Blooming boxes and baskets.

Breaking down these jobs into manageable and pleasurable chunks brings lovely little rewards at every stage and a blooming spring garden to either savour for yourself, or captivate buyers. Let’s dig in!

FLORAL SPRING BOOSTS

If you didn’t have time – or weren’t sure how – to plant your spring bulbs last autumn, you can still add colourful seasonal prettiness by:

• Grabbing ready-to-flower daffodils, primroses, cowslips and crocuses from a supermarket or nursery for a swift garden glow-up: no one needs to know you didn’t grow them from seed! 
• Potting up in-flower bulbs with in-bud forget-me-nots to put on window ledges, outside doors, or next to garden seats for a spring bunny vibe. Group in clusters of threes, fives, or sevens. 
• Adding dwarf fruit trees like apple and plum that are already in bud for a big visual impact and culinary pleasure. Plant in the ground or a large pot, and nurture like a parent in their first year.

Think of floral spring boosts as a way to quickly colour in your garden that makes it instantly more inviting and heralds the coming of longer, warmer days.

SOWING AND GROWING

Early spring is the perfect time to sow and grow your own flowers and veggies. If you’re a beginner, start with the easier-to-grow varieties – some will flower or crop in just 8 to 12 weeks!

• Poppies, nigella, marigolds, and cosmos: sow onto – and cover lightly with – well-watered fine tilth compost in pots, then keep in a bright, frost-free spot until big enough to add to the garden.
• Tomatoes, lettuce, rocket, spinach and Swiss chard are among the easiest and most rewarding vegetables to grow from seed, but label the pots as their tiny seedlings all look very similar.
• No time to grow from seed? You can buy baby annual veg or flowers to nurture inside your home until they’re sturdy enough to go outdoors: a true grow-your-own shortcut.

The key ingredients for baby plants are light, temperature, and water: bright daylight (but no direct sun), no frost, and no overwatering – rotting roots kill more plants than dehydration, so less is definitely more!

ADDING ZONES AND ZING

As the ground warms and plants start to return, let’s think about adding some extra garden impact or defining particular areas, either for your enjoyment or for enticing photos and enthusiastic viewings.

• Architectural plants such as cardoons, echinops, Stipa gigantia or acanthus give focus and visual drama. They also help with zoning, which can help gardens appear larger.
• If some of your beds are looking sparse after winter, you can divide large clumps of plants like irises, cranesbills, and crocosmia to multiple their numbers and plug the gaps, for free!
• Is there anything that would make your garden more enjoyable? Some seating, a table, or a wellbeing space to meditate alone can add genuine moments of pleasure into your design.

Injecting some zing with feature plants or garden furniture is like updating your wardrobe with a few new pieces – rejuvenating your outdoor space, and reinvigorating your enjoyment.

SUMMONING THE WILDLIFE

Is there anything as wonderful as a spring garden bursting with birdsong and buzzing with bees? As the waking up begins, here’s what you can do to create a thriving ecosystem for years to come.

• Any regular supply of water is a godsend for birds, bees, and even slug-eating frogs. An old sink, a small pond, or a bird bath all work well, while adding some stones helps insects climb out.
• Make a mini flower meadow in a sunny spot. Take out all plants and roots, sow a packet of meadow seed mix with a fine tilth tool, then use a rose head to water. Now watch it grow!
• Attract songbirds by putting out non-synthetic nesting materials like raw wool, moss, twigs, spiderwebs and seed fluff on a shed roof so they can build nests to keep their eggs safely snug.  

You and your outside space are surprising warriors in the fight to keep bumbles, birds and biodiversity alive, and the effort is truly worth the reward of watching lovely little creatures flourish and flutter.

BLOOMING BOXES AND BASKETS

Boxes, baskets, and pots elevate everywhere, and spring is when to plant them up with a mix of bedding plants and in-bloom bulbs to take over the flowering. Use these tips and tricks to get the best result.

• First, what’s the location? A sunny spot? In the shade? Viewed from below, or above? This helps you choose the perfect plants: sun or shade-loving, tall, short, trailing, or drought-tolerant.
• Use succulents like sempervivums, cacti and alpines for easy weekly care, or, if you enjoy a daily watering routine, choose traditional favourites such as petunias, fuchsia, and geraniums.
• Too busy for potting? You can buy fabulous ready-planted baskets and window boxes for a well-balanced display – just make sure they have the sun and water they need.

Window boxes can be as modern or traditional as you wish. Whether it’s succulents and cacti, ferns and foliage, or masses of trailing flowers – they all reward you with the perfect style for your home.  

Could spring gardening boost your home’s value?

With a shopping mission, a good day’s planting, and a sprinkle of love to reawaken the wildlife, your garden will bloom around you and renew your appreciation for your outdoor space. 

And if you’re planning to sell in spring, a mini garden makeover can add thousands to your selling price. Call us on 01565 318 622 or message us at enquiries@lordandporter.com for a no-strings chat about the top value boosters.