On my return from swanning around glorious European gardens, bathed in summer colour and fragrant beauty, I was brought back to reality with a thud when I returned home to witness the aftermath of a hard winter frost in my own garden.

But now the days are getting longer and with the weather warming, it’s time to turn our thoughts to spring and the key to a successful spring/summer garden is good preparation.

The first job I’ll tackle is pruning all the perennials and shrubs in the garden such as salvias, ornamental grasses, roses and any frost damaged plants.

This promotes new growth and stops plants from getting too leggy. Remove all the spent annuals and deadhead where necessary and weed, weed, weed!

The soil also needs attention at this time of year so a good dose of fertilizer and compost worked into your beds or scattered under shrubs will pay off in the months to come.

I don’t do much with my lawns except mow regularly, mostly due to their size but now is the time for lawn TLC.

Apply a complete lawn food or scatter one of the pelletized poultry manures and reseed any bare patches.

Late winter is a good time to assess the structure of your garden, without the distraction of leaves and flowers.

Remove dead or unwanted shrubs and trees. Move any plant that’s not in the right spot and make way for something new or even extend your garden.

With all the hard yakka and preparation done, now comes the fun part – choosing the plants for your rejuvenated garden.

It’s not too late to plant your seeds for late spring and summer displays but for early spring colour, check out the local nurseries for seedlings and pots ready for direct planting.

Give a good drink of liquid fertiliser and be amazed at the colour parade! Same goes for the vegie garden!

Re-pot your container and indoor plants. Potting mix should be renewed every few years, either re-plant into the same container, trimming the roots using fresh potting mix or plant into a larger container.

And for a splash of colour, why not fill a few containers with spring annuals!

It’s also a good time to clean out and top up pools, ponds and birdbaths, usually full of autumn leaves and sticks.

My lake is becoming overgrow with reeds and Dwarf Papyrus so it’s time to tackle this problem before they completely engulf my beautiful water lilies – I’m feeling guilty after my recent visit to Monet’s famous French garden!

Happy gardening,

George

George Hoad is president of The Garden Clubs of Australia.