We're well and truely into spring now and the gardens are absolutely flourishing! It's always a busy time of year for the Beecraft landscape team, particularly with this weather we've experienced in sydney over the last couple of months with a superb balance of sun and rain. There is always a few things that we do every year this time around to make sure the gardens are in mint condition.

1. A healthy prune. Things can often get a little scrappy through autumn and winter with varied levels of growth and putting off maintenance work as the plants can go dormant. The start of spring is the best time of year to really give your garden a good facelift to properly set it up for the growing season. This can include a healthy, and sometimes heavy prune to plants so they reshoot over the months to follow. This means they'll be covered in new grow, and you can go back to hedging them, shaping them, or letting them grow however you like.
2. Following the healthy prune, one of the most obvious things for the garden is to fertilise. The type can vary depending on the plant but we use a few separate fertilisers. as a general all round fertiliser, we use a professional landscape blend for the whole garden, or osmocote pro. They're slow release fertilisers and once applied, water into the soil. This will slowly leach out over the next 3-6 months at a healthy rate for positive growth. For our citrus trees we use a combination of dynamic lifter and blood and bone. Its a healthy, organic fertiliser that the plants thrive on.
3. Lawn care! Often full of winter-grass, weeds and even bindis, many of our clients opt for lawn care treatments. These kill the weeds and put nutrients back into the grass as the weather heats up. Mowing is becoming more regular as the growth speeds up so going into spring with a healthy lawn will having it looking luscious through summer. For buffalo grass (most common) you can buy lawn sprays from your local hardware store, or enquire within for how we can help. For lawn fertiliser, we use Shirley's no.17 lawn food to really kick it into gear.
4. Irrigation adjustments. if you've toned back the irrigation through winter, you've done the right thing but you might want to bump it back up again as it begins to heat up. The level and timing will change depending on the type of irrigation and garden but if in doubt, send us a message and we'll be happy to help.
5. Installing a rain sensor on your irrigation. In times of drought, there are restriction on water usage however you are still able to use your irrigation legally with a rain sensor installed. It's a cheap addition to the system that detects rain and will automatically turn off your irrigation when necessary. 

Those are a few basic tips and tricks that are protocol for all our clients when september/october rolls round. If you would like to know more about the Beecraft landscape team and what we do, fill out a 'contact us' form on the website, or email jacksoncarey@beecraft.com.au and he'll look after you. Happy gardening!