Gardening for beginners: the gardening year
You may assume that the key gardening seasons are spring and summer. But there are jobs to do in autumn and winter, too.
For beginner gardeners, it’s hard to know when to start gardening, and when to finish. The garden is always there – what needs doing when? You may assume that the key gardening seasons are spring and summer, and you’d be right. But there are significant jobs to do in autumn and winter, too.
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.
More on gardening for beginners:
- Gardening for beginners - 10 tips
- Gardening for beginners: combining plants
- Gardening for beginners: how to care for your garden
- Gardening for beginners – Planting styles
Browse and be inspired by our seasonal breakdown of the gardening year, below.
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 – watch as Monty demonstrates how to make your own steel plant supports:
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
- Take hardwood cuttings from shrubs and roses
Winter
In winter the garden is dormant, very little 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
- Plant bare-root shrubs, roses, trees and hedging plants
- Order seed catalogues and plan the coming gardening year
- Clean your greenhouse
- Tidy your shed
Watch as Alan Titchmarsh shares top tips for ordering vegetable seeds and flower seeds:
To help you get started, check out some of our tried-and-tested gardening tools, with a selection of great kit for planting and support.