Smaller tasks
GARDEN HELP
Flexible framework agreement
As a starting point for a framework agreement on how you want your garden, plants and flowers to be looked after, an online start-up meeting is held. Here we look together at what is most needed and together we make a plan for future maintenance.
During the purely practical start-up, a greater or lesser effort is often needed to achieve the condition that is expected to be maintained in the future. The effort needed of course depends on whether the garden has been looked after in advance or whether it has been neglected.
You will receive a free maintenance plan proposal. As a bonus, you will get ideas on how your garden can be developed in the direction you want – maintenance free, more biodiversity, colorful all year round. This way, the maintenance plan can take into account the direction you would like to develop your garden.
As a basis for recommendations, we take soil samples in your garden. This helps us with an overview of the type of soil in your garden.
You are completely free to decide what should be included in the service agreement for your garden, and in which direction you want your garden to be developed. We simply advise on options and give you a palette of choices that you are free to choose from.
YEAR ROUND
Garden Calendar
You can jump in at any time. Your garden helper will follow a fixed schedule that you will also be given. What is done depends on the season and the maintenance plan for your particular garden.
Snowdrops & Erantis
When snowdrops and Erantis sprout, you know that winter is almost over. You can help the flowers along. Dig up small clumps of erantis and snowdrops, put them in small pots and place them under a glass bell or in a greenhouse and drive them forward faster. You can easily make erantis multiply by spreading the seeds.
Before the seed capsules on erantis are fully open, they gather, and when the capsules are fully ripe, the seeds fall out. When the erantis plants have wilted, they can be removed with a rake. It takes four years before most self-sown erantis will flower. Snowdrops bloom from February to April, depending on the course of the winter. In mild periods, we can see both snowdrops and erantis appear a few weeks after Christmas.
Time to find seeds
If you were foresight last season, you have lots of your own seeds ready. You can check whether they are germinating by placing the seeds on damp cotton wool and placing them in a place where it is 20-25 degrees. If the seeds do not germinate within 1-2 weeks (depending on how long the germination period is), the seeds can be discarded. If you have a heated greenhouse or a garden room, you can sow the first flower seeds individually in trays or pots from late January to early February.
Repot the plants
In January, the light slowly returns, and overwintered plants gradually wake up from their winter dormancy. Before growth gets going too well, repotting and replacing the soil is worth spending time on. If the roots have become too large, you can cut off the outermost ones. If the roots and shoots have become too strong, replant into larger pots.
Pruning and grafting
Gardening experts do not completely agree on when in the year it is best to prune trees and shrubs. Some believe that summer is the only right time. Others believe that you can do it all year round, depending on what suits you best.
In January, you can prune your apple and pear trees – especially if you have to cut off grafting branches anyway. Apple and pear trees can be pruned all year round. While cherry and plum trees should be pruned around October. In January, you can also prune vines in your greenhouse. If you plan to graft your trees in March/April, now is the time to cut off the grafting branches you need. Wrap the branches in newspaper and bury them in the ground, if it is not frozen. This way they can last until they are needed.
You can jump in at any time. Your garden helper will follow a fixed schedule that you will also be given. What is done depends on the time of year and the maintenance plan for your particular garden.
Start using the greenhouse
At the end of February, slightly more hardy plants can be put in the greenhouse if there is no daily frost. You can use newspapers and bubble wrap to cover the plants at night. If the ground is not frozen, you can try digging up rhubarb and planting it in a bucket and putting it in the greenhouse and thus getting very early rhubarb. You can do the same with herbs and strawberry plants.
Prune shrubs – and let branches bloom indoors
Many flowering shrubs can be pruned now. You can make many of the cut branches bloom indoors.
Take care of your lawn
Avoid walking on the lawn if it is frozen without being covered with snow. Grass plants do not benefit from being pressed down in freezing weather. A lot of moss in the lawn may be due to the lawn’s pH value being too low. Grass thrives best at a pH value of about 7. If you also give the lawn NPK fertilizer, you will have a much better and more beautiful lawn. You can measure the pH value using measuring equipment, which can be purchased at plant centers, etc.
You can jump in at any time. What is done in March depends on the weather and the maintenance schedule for your garden.
Start the vegetable garden
Remove weeds in the vegetable garden. Cultivate the soil with a good cultivator. Lay plastic on the ground and secure with tiles or stones, so you preheat the soil and can start early vegetables in a few weeks. If necessary, larger glass bells on the ground, so they can function as mini-greenhouses. However, you also usually have to be a little patient. In March there are usually 18-20 frost days, and as long as the soil temperature is not above 7 degrees, no growth occurs.
Prune trees and shrubs
March is a good month for pruning. Almost all shrubs and fruit trees can be pruned now. Wait to do a major pruning of roses and lavender until early April. March is also a good time to trim perennials. Cut or clip dead branches and shoots of plants that have been frost-bitten. Always cut or clip back to where there is green bark or visible green shoots or buds.
Remove weeds
March/April is the best time to start controlling weeds in the garden. It is easy to see weeds, as they often start growing earlier than other plants in the garden. In the summer, weed plants have developed longer roots and are therefore harder to pull up.
Check the lawn
Do not walk on the lawn more than absolutely necessary if March is cold. If you want to remove moss from your lawn. It is easiest to remove in March and April, when the moss cushions are often loose. Check the soil pH. If it is below 7, it can cause moss in the lawn. If necessary, sprinkle pearl lime on the lawn.
You can jump in at any time. Your garden helper will proceed according to a fixed schedule that you will also be given. What is done depends on the season and the maintenance plan for your particular garden.
Start spring in the greenhouse
Take advantage of the heat in an unheated greenhouse now. Sow early carrots, lettuce, spinach and herbs, for example. Sprout more heat-requiring plants such as beans, corn, squash and pumpkins in the greenhouse or on the windowsill. You can also help your vegetable garden get going by laying clear plastic on the ground so that the soil temperature is higher.
Get rid of weeds early
Get rid of too many weeds later in the season. Remove all small sprouts, pull up large weed plants, dig through the vegetable garden with a garden rake and remove any weed roots you find.
Give the entire garden an energy boost
Put compost in the garden. Put compost in beds and under hedges. It improves the soil. Fill holes and wilted areas in the lawn with compost. Mix two parts compost with one part sand and grass seed for an average lawn. Tamp lightly on top afterwards.
Mowing the lawn for the first time
First mow the lawn when the grass starts to grow. Mow the first time with a cutting height of about 3-4 cm, so that the grass gets a good start on growing. Go down to about 2 cm the following times.
You can jump in at any time. What is done depends on the time of year and the maintenance plan for your particular garden.
Give the weeds a chance!
Traditionally, garden advice is that May is an ideal month to get rid of weeds. Which is also true. The earlier you get rid of the weeds you don’t want, the easier it will be for you to keep the weeds at bay for the rest of the season. But! Biodiversity and the understanding that a varied garden is super good for the animals and plants in the garden are fortunately gaining some traction.
Thus, the call about the month of May and weeds is not unequivocal that all weeds must go away – but rather that you take a position on how you can give the lush varied garden with all kinds of weeds a chance while still having room for you and the cultivated garden you also want.
Fertilize the garden plants
In May, the garden plants are growing well, and the plants must not lack fertilizer. If the plants have particularly yellow, light leaves, it may be due to a lack of fertilizer. Therefore, spread fertilizer on the lawn, in the vegetable garden and other beds in the garden. The roses will also love a little compost around them. In pots, it is recommended that you use a liquid fertilizer, as well as micronutrients, as potted plants need micronutrients.
Plant lots of plants
If you have followed our advice for the other months of the year, you have been aware of what is beautiful, lush and colorful in the individual months. This will be of great use to you in the month of May, which is ideal for planting lots of plants. The soil temperature is now perfect for most plants, and it is important to plant the last plants in the garden before the summer comes. Avoid dry, windy and hot days for planting, as the plants have greater evaporation here.
From greenhouse to open field
Only plant your newly purchased cucumber plants in the greenhouse when the night temperature in the greenhouse is above 15 degrees. Otherwise they will die. If you are going to sow delicate, heat-loving plants such as pumpkins, squash, beans and corn, you can sow them directly outdoors now.
IF you remember to cover the newly sown seeds with plastic so that they take root faster and grow large. Preheat the soil a week before sowing. If the soil is too cold, the seeds will rot and never germinate.
By the end of the month, the risk of night frost is usually over, but still make sure to have plastic ready for covering if the temperature drops below 0 degrees. Be especially careful of new summer flowers and other delicate plants, such as potatoes and onions, in the vegetable garden. They can go completely to seed, or in the case of onions, risk going to the brink – that they will flower instead of growing.
Watering season begins
If the month is dry, you should water the vegetable garden – feel by sticking your finger in the soil. If it feels moist, it is wet enough. If not, water more. If the leaves droop, it is also a sign of lack of water. Check regularly. It is important that the soil is moist, because then the plants form significantly more roots. And a large root network gives larger plants and thus a better chance of survival in periods of drought.
Fight aphids
Fight aphids while they are still small. In warm periods, aphids start to take up residence outdoors, and as soon as you spot them, you should take action. Use insecticidal soap from the nursery or make it yourself with a teaspoon of sulfo per 1 liter of water, pour it into a flower spray and spray it on the upper and lower sides of the affected leaves.
You can jump in at any time. Your garden helper will follow a fixed schedule that you will also be given. What is done depends on the season and the maintenance plan for your particular garden.
Cut and pinch everything!
In June, you should pinch off the flowers on your rhododendron plants when they wilt. This will give you more strong shoots and thus just as many flowers for next year. Remove new shoots on the fruit trees – this concentrates the growth in the permanent and fruit-bearing shoots and thus in the final fruits. Thin out the fruits if there are many fruits on the plum, apple and pear trees.
Use fertilizer
Dissolve fertilizer in the water when you water the greenhouse and pots. Use a liquid fertilizer with micronutrients to ensure that your plants get the nutrients they need.
Care for your herb garden
Cultivate the soil in the vegetable garden to remove weeds and create loose soil that the rain can penetrate more easily. You can also simply chop the weeds away before they get too big with a hoe. Heap the soil around the potato plants. This will give you more potatoes and no green potatoes, which are poisonous. The green color contains the toxin solanine, which is formed when the tubers are in daylight. Store the potatoes in the dark once they have been dug up.
Make friends with your weeds
Weeding weeds regularly is the normal advice. Weeding weeds at least once a week is the best way to keep them down. But! The fact that weeds are our enemy is something that just gives you a lot of work and stress. So you are encouraged to make friends with your weeds. You may want to read our article on how to make friends with your weeds.
You can jump in at any time. Your garden helper will follow a fixed schedule that you will also be given. What is done depends on the season and the maintenance plan for your particular garden.
You reap what you sow!
If you have given your kitchen garden some attention earlier in the season, you will now have a large pantry filled with exciting herbs, vegetables, potatoes and lettuce in abundance. After harvesting some of the crops in the kitchen garden, there is room for new kitchen herbs. Sprinkle some compost and turn it around in the top soil of the kitchen garden. Just pick it loose so that new batches of spinach, lettuce, radishes, etc. come. Sow preferably on cool days, when the seeds germinate best.
Make your own cuttings
Summer is the best time of year to make your own cuttings. All you need is a mother plant of, for example, lavender, fuchsia, geranium, or other plants from which you can easily make cuttings of their soft herbaceous stems. Pull off the lower set of leaves, remove any flowers and buds, and stick the shoot in a pot filled with seed and potting soil. Water and place the pot in a milky-white garbage bag and close it lightly. Remove the bag when the cuttings have roots after about two weeks.
Control the direction and development
All climbing plants in the garden such as wisteria, clematis and climbing roses grow rapidly in the summer. Therefore, tie them up regularly and guide the growth in the directions you want. For example, get the wisteria to crawl along an overhang by the terrace, or the clematis to crawl around the rafter fence. Tie the long summer shoots that hang out to the sides to the tying frame. Use twine or cotton string – if you use metal wire, make sure it does not gnaw into the branches and damage the growth.
Remove branches on bushes and trees that are a nuisance, for example by hanging too low or over the lawn. In summer, trees and bushes are growing well, and their wounds therefore heal faster if you saw or cut off a branch with pruning shears. Cut the branch just outside the branch collar, i.e. not all the way to the trunk. Never saw or cut a branch in the middle, but make the cut inside the trunk or the branch angle.
Remove aphids
Aphids attack your plants especially in June and July, where they eat the leaves and buds of the plants. Aphids can deform the plants or cause poor growth, fungus. Aphids especially attack thirsty plants, so you can prevent attacks by watering during dry periods.
You can jump in at any time. Your garden helper will proceed according to a fixed schedule that you will also be given. What is done depends on the season and the maintenance plan for your particular garden.
Enjoy the garden inside too
All year round you can take branches and flowers from your garden and place them inside. Especially in the summer months, you have a cornucopia of the most beautiful flowers that you can fill your entire home with if you want.
Harvest and store apples
Pick apples when they are ripe. Put the ones you don’t eat in boxes and place them in a damp and cool place with as much air circulation around them as possible, possibly on the north side of the house, and make sure they are well covered so that the boxes stay dry in rainy weather. You can also store the apples for later use in apple boxes.
Place them in a damp and cool place with as much air circulation around them as possible, for example in an outhouse or garage, before hard frost sets in. If they are somewhere with a concrete floor or tiles, it is a good idea to pour a little water on the floor so that the humidity remains high.
Prune and cut berry bushes and fruit trees
Once you have picked cherries and plums, you can prune and thin out the tree if necessary. The same applies to other members of the stone fruit family – including grapes, mirabelles, almonds and figs. Cut off old branches on currants, blackcurrants, raspberries and gooseberries right down to the ground – this will give you more berries next year.
And while you are pruning and cutting, you can also cut the hedge. The timing is optimal, as it gives new shoots enough time to harden off before winter and frost sets in. August is also the best time for major pruning of maple trees, birch trees and walnut trees. It is also a good idea to cut off the wilted roses. That way, you can have more flowers for the rest of the year.
Plan ahead for next season
Right now, the soil temperature is at its highest of the year, which allows for rapid seed germination and new root formation. The best time of year to establish lawns and plant evergreens. August is also ideal for planting new strawberries from suckers and cuttings. New roots and stronger plants are formed quickly.
You can jump in at any time. Your garden helper will follow a fixed schedule that you will also be given. What is done depends on the season and the maintenance plan for your particular garden.
It’s time to harvest seeds!
September is ideal for collecting and thawing seeds. When seeds ripen on the plants that you want to propagate for next year, you should collect the seeds and let them dry before putting them in paper bags.
‘Sow new grass
In September, the soil is particularly warm and moist. It is a good time to sow a new lawn. On existing lawns, the cutting height can be advantageously raised to approx. 3 cm. In October, the grass is usually mowed for the last times.
Plant new perennials
September is ideal for planting a wide range of plants, such as evergreens, and bulb planting. You can also get new plants from your existing perennials. Dig up clumps and divide them into smaller pieces with a spade. A large clump can easily become 5-7 new ones, as long as you ensure that there are some fresh shoots so that the plant can shoot further.
Sow spinach and harvest it later
Sow excess soil in the vegetable garden with spinach and harvest it later in the year.
Start autumn cleaning of the garden
Remove as many weeds as possible. If you remove larger clumps of weeds now, you will have a much easier time in the spring.
Reduce the number of slugs in the garden for next season by collecting slug eggs. Slugs lay eggs from August to November, and a single slug can lay up to 400 eggs in a season. Slug eggs are typically found on the ground or in small cracks in the ground, under boards and tree roots, in compost or branch piles, or in the greenhouse, typically under plastic boxes and pots. Collect the snail eggs in a bag, tie a knot and throw it in the trash. You can also pour boiling water over them.
You can jump in at any time. Your garden helper will follow a fixed schedule that you will also be given. What is done depends on the season and the maintenance plan for your particular garden.
Prepare the garden for winter
The lawn may need to be mowed for the last time of the season in October – it depends on the temperature. When the soil temperature is lower than 6-7 degrees, the grass stops growing, and then it should not be mowed. Measure the soil temperature with a soil thermometer. Do not mow the lawn below 4 cm when you mow it for the last time. Pots that are outside all year round benefit from being raised a few centimeters off the ground. Lift pots in the garden that will be outside all year round a few centimeters above the ground before the frost comes, and empty them of summer flowers. A few blocks underneath are enough to raise them so that they are not standing directly on the ground. This will prevent them from cracking and splitting.
Plant lots of new things!
The whole of autumn is the peak season for planting. Plant plenty and preferably more shrubs and trees. They give the garden character and volume and make it easier. The rule of thumb is that you should sow new grass, plant flower bulbs and divide and plant perennials during September. You can plant evergreens as long as the soil is warm with a temperature of at least 8-10 degrees, which it usually is until about mid-October.
In the latter half of October and throughout November, you can plant deciduous plants and bare-root plants. This is when you should plant a new hedge, if necessary. In October, it is a good idea to plant evergreens and you can continue to plant new bulbs and bulbous plants, and you can continue to do so until winter – the later you plant them, the later they will come up.
You can jump in at any time. Your garden helper will follow a fixed schedule that you will also be given. What is done depends on the season and the maintenance plan for your particular garden.
Winter preparation of the garden
Rip the last leaves under bushes and trees so that they can become a good winter home for hedgehogs, remove weeds in beds and pack up the last garden furniture and other equipment for the winter. Store picked apples and pears and dug up vegetables such as potatoes, carrots and celery in boxes with good ventilation in a dry and frost-free place.
Cover frost-sensitive perennials and trees
Cover perennials that cannot tolerate frost. Place a layer of loose leaves around the plants. You can also use straw mats to wrap plants and flowers for the winter. Trees that may be frost-sensitive for the first 3-5 years after planting should be covered with spruce branches or straw mats around the tree for the winter until it has grown.
Tie up newly planted trees and shrubs
Newly planted, larger trees should be tied up for the first few years after planting until the roots have developed. Place 2-3 posts around the tree and tie them with, for example, wide rubber bands. Also tie up shrubs and trees with weak branches so that they can better withstand any snow pressure.
Prepare the greenhouse for winter
Remove old material such as wilted plant debris and leaves from grapes, nectarines, apricots and other fruits. Wash the greenhouse in soapy water, you can use brown soap.
Plant bare-root plants, deciduous trees and shrubs
Bare-rooted plants are often hedges, shrubs and roses without a clod of earth or pot. Bare-root plants should be planted when the plants have gone dormant and can be planted from November and in very early spring. You can also plant deciduous trees and shrubs in clumps.
Plant spring bulbs
Plant spring bulbs if you haven’t done so yet. A little fertilizer will produce larger flowers and plants.
Plant plants in pots and containers
Plant evergreen plants in pots, basins or containers on the balcony or terrace or by the front door. Plant yew, holly, or other evergreen plants, for example. This way you will have a lush, green environment all winter long.
Garden pond
If you have a garden pond, you should remember to frost-proof it in November and ensure that the fish are overwintering.
You can jump in at any time. Your garden helper will proceed according to a fixed schedule that you will also be given. What is done depends on the season and the maintenance plan for your particular garden.
Take care of your lawn
Fall leaves can quickly form a thick layer on the lawn, stuck together by the rainy days of the season. This increases the risk of the lawn being attacked by snow mold. Prevent this by raking the leaves and throwing them on the compost, mowing the lawn shortly before winter and possibly poking vertical holes with a rake if excess water has difficulty getting away from the lawn.
Make your own cuttings
You can make new blackcurrant or currant bushes yourself from winter cuttings. Cuttings are 20-25 cm, pencil-sized pieces of a branch that are cut during the winter months while the plant is dormant. When you cut the cuttings, choose younger branches that will root best. Place the pieces of branch in a large pot with moistened potting soil and place in a cool but frost-free place and be careful with watering so that the soil is always moist. In May, the cuttings can be planted out in the garden as small, new bushes.
Wrap the roses
If you haven’t already wrapped them, the roses will probably freeze. Roses are delicate plants and they don’t like to freeze underfoot. Protect them from frost by covering them at ground level with straw, spruce branches, wood chips or compost.
Show the birds that it’s Christmas
Give the birds a little Christmas help – a sheaf is full of festive spirit. In ancient times, sheaves of grain were hung in case Odin, from Norse mythology, was to come by. Then there would be something to eat for the Elffather’s eight-legged horse, Sleipnir.
Keep an eye out for aphids
If you have plants indoors for the winter, you should check them carefully for aphids in particular. Aphids are so cleverly designed that in the summer the population consists only of females, who reproduce by virgin birth. When winter approaches, they also give birth to males, so they have someone to mate with. This allows them to lay eggs that can overwinter, ensuring next year’s aphid population.
