Gardening for beginners: the gardening year

What’s more, gardening isn’t just about jobs. Being familiar with the gardening year is as much about knowing what to enjoy at key moments. Not all gardeners garden throughout the year, but there are many benefits in doing so, not least the physical and mental advantages of being outside and enjoying all the garden has to offer. But it’s important to do what works for you.

Spring

In spring the garden comes alive again after winter. Spring bulbs such as aconites, snowdrops and daffodils are the first flowering plants to emerge, followed by tree blossom and flowering shrubs such as hawthorn. This is arguably the busiest time of year in the garden, with gardeners sowing seeds of flowering annuals, planning the look of the borders, and getting a head start on mowing and weeding.

Gardening jobs for spring

Lift and divide herbaceous perennials
Plant new herbaceous plants and shrubs
Prune roses
Sow hardy annuals outdoors
Sow half-hardy annuals in a heated propagator and plant them out after all risk of frost has passed
Remove weeds, add compost mulch to borders
Start mowing the lawn

Summer

Summer is a time of abundance in the garden. Plants put on plenty of leafy growth and then burst into flower to be pollinated by bees and other insects. Weeds can be a problem in summer, but you can keep them under control with a 'little and often' approach. Although there's still plenty to be getting on with, it's important to take the time to relax outdoors and enjoy the fruits of your labour.

Summer jobs

Prune spring-flowering shrubs after flowering
Take cuttings from new growth of shrubs and perennials
Start feeding, watering and deadheading bedding plants
Feed and deadhead roses after flowering
Sow seeds of perennial plants
Deadhead spent flowers from herbaceous plants
Mow your lawn regularly, increasing the height of the cutting blade in dry weather
Stake perennials before they flop over

Autumn

Plants stop growing as quickly in autumn, giving you a break, as well as a chance to look back on the growing season. Some plants, such as Japanese anemones, Verbena bonariensis and rudbeckias, will flower until the first frosts, providing a late season of pollen and nectar for insects. Now is the time for seedheads, berries and hips, the falling of leaves, as the garden – and the wildlife that uses it – starts to wind down for winter. It's also the key time for planting spring bulbs.

Autumn jobs

Plant late-flowering plants to extend the season of colour
Bring tender plants indoors before the first frosts
Plant spring bulbs
Clear fallen leaves from your lawn and paths, but leave piles in corners of your garden to provide hibernation sites for wildlife
Leave seedheads on plants for birds to eat
Plant deciduous trees, shrubs and climbers
Plant bare-root shrubs, roses and hedging plants
Take hardwood cuttings from shrubs and roses

Winter

The gardening year - cleaning the greenhouse

In winter the garden is completely dormant, nothing is growing and most wildlife is hibernating. Many gardeners stop gardening altogether at this time of year but there are jobs to do. These largely involve tasks that free-up time in spring, such as cleaning the greenhouse and tidying the shed. You can also pot up container displays of winter-flowering plants, to enjoy through the window. Also, don’t forget to take time to enjoy evergreen shrubs and trees, the remaining berries and structural plants in the garden.

Winter jobs

Raise terracotta pots on pot feet to prevent cracking in frost.
Order seed catalogues and plan the coming gardening year
Clean your greenhouse
Tidy your shed

To help you get started, check out some of our tried-and-tested gardening tools below, with a selection of great kit for planting and support.

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