Garden Maintenance

A gardeners tips to help you reduce your carbon footprint and provide vital habitats for wildlife in your garden maintenance plan whether you're a home gardener in Dublin or professional these key tips will help you keep soil healthy and plants happy.

Garden Soil - the soil is the foundation for your growing garden, it can store carbon, retain water and benefit wildlife .

Mulching- mulching will help suppress weeds and improve the soil around plants but also improves the appearance of your garden and also means less wasted time for a gardener pulling weeds and watering, in summertime the moisture levels in the soil are improved and in winter the plants roots have added protection from frost.

Composting - composting can be done all year-round whether you're doing a garden clearance or have leftovers from kitchen waste (fruit & veg) they can be added to a compost bin by mixing green waste, grass clippings, prunings from plants, Woody material and leaves from Hedge trimming.

Water management- watering is a key element to growing in your garden and part of the ongoing maintenance but it is also important to conserve water where possible and use it effectively. There is an ever increasing Demand on our water supplies so utilising and collecting rainwater is a great start for an eco-friendly Dublin gardener.
A raised water butt with tap would be a simple way to start saving rainwater for the garden as it is also better for plants because of the lower pH. Your local garden centre in Dublin should have an array of sizes to choose from.

Plants & Environment- climate change is an important topic and planting trees in your garden space is a big step in the right direction but gardeners must be concerned that they choose the correct tree as when the tree matures the climate in your garden may be different and when it was first planted so they must be suited to the environment or might suffer down the line.
Gardeners can help declining bee and other pollinators by planting nectar and pollen rich plants in their garden. Other effective ways to capture pollution is to plant Hedges which can also act as a natural boundary and provide shelter for wildlife. Hedges do you require regular trimming and are another element to garden maintenance but the pros outweigh the cons in this case.

Pollution - you can make your garden as green as possible by reducing plastic and avoiding harsh chemicals it's best to try natural solutions to pests or weeds in the garden where appropriate.
There are alternatives to using chemical weed killers in our gardens such as pulling the weed by hand, hoeing or burning. There are natural barriers such as gravel or bark chippings but regular manual removal of weeds will be required during the spring and summer months when they are most troublesome, in some cases chemical control may be necessary to get an area of the garden under control and start the process but this method should be used in a targeted and controlled manner. Regular garden maintenance can be used to limit and control weeds.

As Gardeners and their customers become more concerned about their health and Environment it's important to know how to limit disease spread and this begins by keeping your garden in a maintained state clearing up old flowers, leaf's, debris and pruning dead or diseased areas of plants and disposing of in a responsible manner.