Garden Planting Advice

Think about your space
It’s worth putting your coat and wellies on and heading out to your garden to visualise the space. We recommend taking photos of your flower beds and borders as well as measuring the depth and width of some of them so you can scope out the space and get a full understanding of what plants can fit where. For example, if your dream is to plant an apple tree, you’ll need to identify a suitable space to plant this in.

Understanding your soil type
Before deciding exactly what you’re going to grow in your garden, it’s key to understand your soil type. Is it clay-like and sticky or is it more of a crumbly, sandy nature? You can examine the consistency of your soil by rolling it in your fingers. If your little consistency test concludes that it is somewhere between the two, then it’s ideal for growing a wide range of plants.

Sketch out your garden
Once you’ve listed your desired plants, have visualised the space and know what type of soil is in your garden, we recommend sketching out your garden plan (with measurements) so you can plot where everything goes. This will enable you to fill each of your beds with someone that you want, while also helping you see any areas you’re overcrowding. It sounds obvious, but plants all need space to grow and get nutrients. Planting a tree directly over a bush may hinder the bush’s growth.

Taking the time to sketch out your garden will really help you to visualise and decide which plants you should prioritise. This may have a particular lean towards planting trees, establishing flower beds, or even developing an allotment plot for growing fruit and vegetables. Whatever theme you want your garden to take, we’ve put together some advice here:

Tree Planting
With years of tree planting experience, at Benefitz Gardening Services, we have the knowledge and expertise to recommend which tree species will thrive the most in your garden. We’re here to make your landscaping dreams become a reality to transform your garden into a stunning space cost-effectively. Whether you’re planning long-term and need saplings or you’re looking for more established trees for a quicker result, we can help advise and select the right trees for your garden.

Creating Flower Beds
You may want to create an idyllic and vibrant space in your garden by planting all sorts of colourful flowers. You can fill your garden with perennials, annuals, and blooming shrubs, to add colour and dimension to your outdoor space. Flowers also form an inviting habitat for birds and butterflies, which are essential pollinators. Your space needs to have ample sunlight during the warmer months as lots of flowers are full-sun type plants. Equally, some species may need a spot which gets afternoon shade during the height of summer so it can protect your blooms from extreme heat.

Building an Allotment
With fruit and vegetable costs now higher than ever, many people are turning to growing their own food.  You may not want to transform your entire garden into an allotment, but you may want some of it to be productive for this purpose. You can build beds and dedicate them to the growth of fruit and vegetables pretty easily.

Whether it’s onions, garlic, chard, beetroot, butternut squash, courgettes, or carrots, having a dedicated space for growing healthy food can be a very effective way to use your garden. Some items have a higher yield than others, meaning you can freeze them if you have suitable storage, rendering the allotment as a good use of space.

To build a vegetable patch you need to dig the soil thoroughly to remove weeds and stones, and rake the surface level so it’s easy to manage. You can sow some seeds directly into the soil from March onwards but we recommend reading each seed packet for instructions as many need to be sown indoors in the warmth in order to germinate and grow. Once planted out, we recommend using top soil to tidy up the surface of the bed to make it neat and tidy.

Final Thoughts
Gardens evolve over time, so you don’t need to tackle everything immediately but now is the time to start the process. It’s still chilly at this time of year, so if you’re keen to get out in the garden already then it’s also a good time to do any pruning or cutting back of trees or bushes before spring arrives. This can be a great way to get rid of any dead, diseased, or damaged parts of your plant or tree and it can be an effective way to determine the shape they take when the growing season kicks in during the warmer months.

If you really want to get your garden looking perfect or you’d like more planting tips for the year ahead, simply get in touch with us today.