Ten ways to celebrate spring

There is no better time to start a new garden project, to sow and transplant, or just take time to enjoy the beauty of nature as new leaves and buds emerge.

Here are ten ways to celebrate the new season:

Breathe new life into the garden

Re-do a neglected or unsatisfactory corner. All gardens have them; a bed that no longer looks as good as it once did. It could be that the soil needs renewing, that the light has changed, or it has become overgrown. Once the problem is fixed, have fun by changing the colour scheme, trying new plants and bringing in new features, like a garden bench, obelisk or bird bath.

Start your spring cleaning

Throw out the old or use old garden goodies in a new way. Get ideas by browsing through the displays of garden décor in garden centres. Use your outdoor space as an extension of the home and decorate it with garden art, decorative planters and candleholders.

Celebrate our wild flowers

Take a walk or picnic in your nearest botanical garden. It is the best source of inspiration for colourful, low maintenance indigenous gardening. Bruce Stead’s book, Creative Indigenous Garden Design shows how to translate a natural scene into a garden setting. It’s available at Random Harvest Nursery, Garden World or directly from Bruce Stead (012-667-5679 or bruce.a.steawd@gmail.com).

Splash in a puddle

Rediscover your inner child by spending time in the garden with the children. While playing with water, clean water features, bird baths and ponds, especially fish ponds. Before cleaning catch the fish and keep them in a bucket of water. Scrub the pond using fresh water but no chemicals. The water in the pond should be allowed to warm up before the fish are put back.

Add spring colour

Cape daisies (Osteospermum FlowerPower) are looking spectacular and have become the spring flower. There are so many to choose from; doubles, novelties like “Bliss” with spoon-shaped petals, and colours like dark lavender and yellow, bicolour pink and yellow, pink honey and red. Other spring performers are petunias and calibrachoa (mini petunias) and indigenous varieties like diascia, gazania (new red shades available), Felicia, and nemesia.

Welcome back the birds

Put up new bird feeders or stock existing ones with a mix of fruit, seed, and suet. Elaine’s “bird grub” and seed bells are locally made bird products, available through hardware stores.

Try something new

Grow unusual herbs, like Vietnamese coriander, tarragon, oreganum “hot and spicy” or exotic vegetables like asparagus, horseradish and globe artichokes that you’ll find on Healthy Living Herb stands. The designer gardens featuring veggie and flowers are still on show at Garden World and are worth a visit.

Start a new compost heap

If you aren’t already enjoying the benefits of home-made compost (a great cost saver) start a heap with all garden off-cuts, kitchen scraps, raked up leaves, and any other garden waste. Add in layers of manure every now and then and use Kirchhoff’s compost maker to speed up the decomposition.

Grow a tree

If you don’t have room in your garden for a tree, grow one from seed to one day plant in a community area. That’s the idea behind “Grow a tree”; an initiative that provides a starter pack that teaches how to grow a tree from a seed. ‘Grow a tree’ visits schools and works with communities to green their areas. Find our more at growatree.co.za.

Plan an outing with a friend

Visit the open gardens that form part of the “Gardens of the Golden City” in September and October. They include “River Lodge Farm” – Keith Kirsten’s large farm garden.