Green ~ Clean ~ Serene

Autumn is nearing its end, and it is time to prepare your garden for winter. 'Putting the garden to bed' ensures it stays tidy, healthy, and ready for a beautiful spring. Key Tasks for Winter Preparation 🎯 Tidy Up Borders: Prune back dead or dying foliage from herbaceous perennials. Cut stems down to a few inches above the soil. Remove spent annuals and mulch the bare ground. 🎯 Clear Fallen Leaves: Rake up leaves from lawns and pathways. Decomposing leaves on the lawn can cause dead patches, while wet leaves on paths are a slipping hazard. Add leaves to your compost pile or shred and sprinkle on the beds to keep the weeds at bay. 🎯 Protect Tender Plants: Move potted, tender plants (like fuchsias, geraniums, and citrus) into a greenhouse, conservatory, or a bright, frost-free shed. For plants that must remain outside, cover them with horticultural fleece. 🎯 Prepare the Lawn: Give your lawn a final high cut to collect fallen leaves. On dry day you can use a garden rake to remove thatch and aerate the soil to improve drainage and prevent waterlogging. 🎯 Protect Outdoor Taps & Pipes: To prevent frost damage, wrap outdoor pipes with insulation or bubble wrap. If possible, drain water from pipes and isolate outdoor taps. 🎯 Clean Tools: Give your garden tools a thorough clean to remove dirt and rust. Dry them completely and lubricate moving parts with oil to prevent rust during storage. This ensures they are ready for spring gardening tasks. 🎯 Plant Bulbs for Spring: Plant spring-flowering bulbs like daffodils, tulips, and crocuses now to ensure vibrant colour next year. Taking the time to do these tasks now will make a significant difference when spring arrives. Contact us for help with any of these services. (Photo of Bryn sniffing fungi for marketing purposes)

Merry fixmas! Dreadful weather in Swansea affords us time to reflect and repair. @stihlgb parts for a battery lawnmower, our big shredding strimmer, and hedge cutters to fit this weekend. Great service from @lsengineers as always.

Are you even a real gardener if you don’t dual wield secateurs?

Inspring use of drought tolerant plants and corten steel edging for this small but impactful hotel garden in Santa Ponsa, Mallorca.

From The Roadside Wildlife Book by Richard Mabey (1974) "The A-shape, perhaps the closest modern equivalent to the layered hedge. It’s not trimmed with a fail mower, but with a more conventional type of hedge-cutter." The wasp-waisted hedge produced by a flail-mower cutting deep into a tall hedge is little good to man or beast. Apart from its unsightliness it has virtually no thickness at the bottom, and little ground flora because of shade from the overhang."

This lawn is looking crisp after a brush with our Honda