Spotlight Magazines Spotlight on Mansfield South April 2015 | Page 6

Spotlight Magazine Project Pleasure Garden View April is a great month for a garden project; one which can be achieved in a morning or an afternoon, and which improves a few square metres. You’ll feel you’ve achieved something wonderful and if you break the whole garden into a series of small projects it suddenly appears more manageable. Here are three to get you started. Strawberry Pots Then mow the lawn with the blades set on high and remove the clippings. Two weeks later apply a combined weed killer and fertilizer. If you’re lucky it will rain within 24 hours. If not just water it in. Mow weekly to keep the lawn thick and healthy. Seating Don’t forget an all weather seat so you can sit and contemplate all your hard work over a cup of tea or a nip of something stronger. You don’t need a huge patch to enjoy growing strawberries. Plant a few in pots as a treat. Buy young, rich green plants which have been certified virus-free. Plant 3-4 in a 12 inch (30cm) clay pot. Teak from renewable resources is fantastic but cast iron or aluminium is also good, though you’ll need a cushion to protect your posterior on cold days! Position it in a sunny area. The crowns (where shoots meet roots) should be level with the compost surface. Buy a few flowering daffodils, tulips and pansies and plant them in a pretty pot next to the bench, then sit back and enjoy. Water them in and stand in the shelter of a house wall. If you have a greenhouse or a cold frame they will establish more quickly and fruit earlier. Pinch off any runners which form. By Rachel Leverton Grass Lawns always look bedraggled after the winter. Remove dead grass by raking the surface with a wire toothed rake. Improve drainage on heavy soil by spiking it with a garden fork every 6 inches (15cm) or so, to a depth of about 4 inches (10cm), giving the fork a good wiggle each time. Sweep sharp sand into the holes with a broom. 6 www.spotlightlocal.co.uk • 01623 706570 • [email protected]