Get soil ready for planting

Preparing beds for this year’ s cultivation, says Ruth

- Ruth Hayes

WE are at that point of the year when it feels like nature is holding her breath, waiting to exhale and burst into life and colour.

The same applies to the garden, with longer days and warmer weather encouraging plants to shoot and bud and bloom.

This week I have been working on our beds, weeding, raking the soil and feeding it with homemade compost and well rotted farmyard manure to give existing plants a boost as they get going again after winter and lay the ground for successful seed sowing and germination in a few weeks’ time.

If bad weather strikes in the next few weeks it will work on the mulch, breaking it down and incorporating it into the soil, working in tandem with the worms that are active again after a winter spent hibernating deep down.

After a winter that has mixed torrential downpours with seemingly endless weeks of sub-zero chill, I’ve been desperate for some colour to lift the garden and our mood.

Pots of ready-shooted bulbs and spring bedding are widely available now and once planted, will sit out any bad weather without adverse side effects.