Planning this year’s gardening projects

Deciding on this years gardening projects and getting quotes for materials.

I’m writing this blog in the middle of January.  Carol Kirkwood has forecasted snow before the end of the week.  It’s blowing a gale and the sky is grey.  I have lots to do in the garden – but I don’t fancy it. So I’m planning ahead for this year’s gardening projects.

The vegetable garden

Last year I undertook a huge adventure.  I left a brilliant job and went freelance.  Mainly so that I could be on hand if my aging parents need help.  It was a busy time and the veg garden was slightly abandoned.

This year I’m going to do better.

The raised beds are going to be topped up with some good quality topsoil.  I’m hoping to squeeze in a couple of new beds too – to grow blackcurrants.

I’ve always got on well using this grade 1 topsoil from Turfonline.  I like that it comes in a big bag.  I have no trouble for re-using the bag and there are no plastic bags to dispose of.

More about grade 1 topsoil

The polytunnel

This is just about the last year of life for the skin on my polytunnel.  Next year it will have to be replaced.  That’s no excuse though.

There are two things I don’t enjoy about growing flowers fruit and veg in my polytunnel.  Slugs and watering.

The slugs have had a bit of a shock this winter.  Defra have told us that all poultry needs to be kept indoors to avoid bird flu.  My chooks are currently in the polytunnel, gobbling up slugs, snails, creepy crawlies and the overwintering geraniums.

Watering is going to have to be addressed before spring gets here though. It’s time consuming and uses literally gallons of water every day.

This year, I shall be digging some water retaining crystals into the soil to see if they improve results for me.

Beds and Borders

I’m guessing I’m going to be short on time again this year so I want to keep weeding to a minimum.  One of my flower beds is going to be sacrificed and turned to lawn.  That will reduce some of the maintenance.

The other beds (I have quite a large garden) need mulching to keep weeds under control.

Woodchip mulch does the job beautifully and the worms love it.  £96 a bag seems expensive but I know from experience that it’ll last 3-4 years. I reckon one 1 big bag should be enough.   That works out nearer to £24 per year.  Which is OK by me.

The lawn

I’m ashamed to say my lawn has been rather neglected of late.

I will be turfing over that one flower bed and I know for sure that the rest of the lawn will look appalling next to new turf.  So I’d better pull my finger out and improve things.

Starting in spring, I’ll ask a landscaper friend of mine to come in and scarify the existing lawn.  Then I’ll aerate it and start on a regular feeding regime.  That should help to even out the colour and get it looking much greener and healthier.

This is a helpful article packed with information on feeding your lawn

Get a quote for your gardening projects

I know that I’m going to be needing turf, topsoil, lawn feed and woodchip mulch.  The turfonline’s website has a handy project quote tool.  I can use it to calculate quantities and find out how much everything will cost.  Awesome.

Project Quote Tool 

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