Garden care season by season

The garden has a rhythm and each season asks for specific tasks. Doing them in time avoids almost every problem: pruning at the right moment, mulching before the heat, a clean-up before winter. This is the garden care calendar for a Mediterranean and temperate climate; in cold areas, push everything back a few weeks.

Spring (March - May)

• Finish the pruning of summer-flowering shrubs and roses before they sprout strongly.
• First feed of the year with compost or organic fertiliser in all the beds and under the trees.
• Sow and plant: summer veg garden, seasonal plants, new lawn, perennials.
• Check the irrigation system: clean filters, replace broken drippers, test all zones and adjust the timer.
• Watch for the first pests: aphids on tender shoots, snails after rain, powdery mildew on days with a big temperature contrast.
• Scarify and aerate the lawn, and reseed the bare patches.
• Refresh the mulch before the heat sets in.

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Summer (June - August)

• Water at dawn, long and spaced out. Adjust the timer when the heatwave arrives and turn it back down afterwards.
• Remove faded flowers to prolong flowering (roses, salvias, gauras, cosmos).
• Don't feed in full heat or prune hard: the plant is in survival mode and you only stress it.
• Raise the lawn cutting height to 6-8 cm so it shades its own root.
• Watch for spider mite and whitefly, favoured by heat and dry air.
• Collect seeds from the plants you want to propagate and take cuttings of herbs.
• Give light shade to recent transplants for the first two weeks.

Autumn (September - November)

• The best time to plant trees, shrubs and perennials: they use the rains to root without stress.
• Divide aged perennials (hostas, agapanthus, grasses, daisies).
• Sow a new lawn or reseed the thin areas thoroughly.
• Collect the leaves to make leaf mould and add brown material to the composter.
• Apply preventive copper on fruit trees after leaf fall.
• Plant spring bulbs (tulip, daffodil, muscari, allium).
• Reduce the watering progressively as the temperatures drop.

Winter (December - February)

• Prune deciduous trees and shrubs while dormant (leave until after flowering the ones that flower in late winter, such as forsythia or flowering quince).
• Protect cold-sensitive plants with frost fleece, or bring the pots under cover.
• Clean, sharpen and oil all your tools.
• Empty and store the irrigation timer; flush the pipes if it freezes in your area.
• Store the robot lawn mower charged, clean and dry.
• Plan: draw the year's changes, make the shopping list and order the seeds.

Tasks done all year

• Pull weeds before they seed (a weed in time saves a hundred later).
• Check the underside of the leaves of pest-prone plants.
• Empty and clean the pot saucers so they don't breed mosquitoes.
• Note in the notebook what works and what doesn't.

Cross-cutting tip

Keep a garden notebook: the date of each sowing and pruning, which pest appeared and when, what worked and what didn't. In two years you'll have a calendar made to the exact measure of your garden, your climate and your soil, worth more than any general guide.

Frequently asked questions

When do you prune each type of plant?

General rule: the ones that flower in spring (forsythia, lilac, wisteria), just after flowering; the ones that flower in summer and autumn (roses, paniculata hydrangea, buddleia), in late winter. Evergreen hedges, once or twice in spring-summer.

What's the worst time to plant?

July and August. If there's no alternative, water daily, give shade and mulch well; even so the plant will have a hard time.

Do you have to feed in autumn?

Yes, but with slow-release organic fertiliser (compost, manure) that feeds the soil. Avoid nitrogen-rich fertiliser in autumn: it forces tender shoots that get frosted.

What do I do with the fallen leaves in autumn?

Remove them from the lawn (they smother the grass) and from the paths, but leave them under the shrubs or pile them up to make leaf mould, an excellent and free mulch.