Christmas is over and we are now into January of the New Year. So why not consider your garden?

Hello - my name is Mark Stradling and I am the owner of Mark's Garden Services in Bishop's Storford. Over the course of the coming year, I will be offering simple yet effective advice and ideas to ensure that your garden looks its very best. Keep an eye out in the next few weeks for my fence, hedge and tree blogs on thebestof Bishop’s Stortford.

Traditionally at this time of year, your garden would be under a blanket of snow with everything frozen solid but as yet, this has not happened. The grass is still green, the garden looks alive and believe it or not, contrary to age-old wives tales, it is growing, as the soil is damp, soft and warm. This is now an ideal time to get out into your garden and do some work. Agreed, you might not be able to work the garden as well as if it was summer but there are certain jobs that can be done.

General maintenance

Generally the garden will be looking drab at this time of year. The grass is green and yes, still growing, but your garden is covered in autumn leaves, the borders are littered with broken branches, fallen leaves, the odd toy and general debris blown into your garden from elsewhere.

Let’s start with the lawn. This must be cleared of all fallen leaves and debris, including the toys and anything that is standing on the grass. Items left on the lawn suffocate the grass and the grass turns yellow, very unsightly. However the grass will regain its green hue should all items be kept off it.

Leaves are a nightmare for grass. The leaves, once fallen and before they rot down, block the low autumn light from the leaves of the grass which in turn shuts down the photosynthesis process that the plant needs to survive making it weak and open to disease and it will become very patchy in a very short period of time. Keep your lawn clean. The borders are frequently around the outside of your garden so they will gather most of the debris that has blown to the sides of your garden and up against your fence or hedge. This debris encourages undesirable garden diseases to hide during the winter period and needs to be cleared. And always remember to wear gloves when you clean your borders as you do not know where animals have been!

Prune your plants to a manageable size, dependent upon species, now or they will be too big and will become leggy and unmanageable and you may need to replace them in time. Prune your fruit tree now - it’s the best and only time. Inspect, repair and paint your fence and decking, trim, cut or reduce your hedging, power wash your patio paving and decking but not your block paving as this job needs dry days to be able re-sand between the blocks satisfactorily.

Empty flower pots from last year, disposing of the dead plants on your compost heap along with any hanging baskets so they are ready to be filled with new compost and lovingly planted with this year’s summer bedding in May. Dig over your borders, getting rid of any vegetation that you did not buy but whilst doing so, try to keep off your lawn as much as possible as it is very wet and extra compaction at this time of year is unnecessary and damaging. There are many jobs that can be carried out in your garden whilst the weather is mild and sometimes even when it isn’t.

Based in Bishop’s Stortford, Mark’s Garden Services are more than capable of taking the strain and carrying out all of the above work should you need to spend your valuable time elsewhere. We can make sure that your garden is ready for the summer months for you and your family to enjoy