Gardening Tips From The Storage Experts

It’s time to accept it. The picnic’s over. The sun has finally packed its bags and headed south. The trees are about to do their seasonal wardrobe change. Winter is just around the corner, ready to jump out like some icicle-toothed fiend and send you running and screaming for the safety of the nearest duvet.

But before you bolt the door, turn the heating on and hibernate, there are a few little chores to take care of. Especially if you live in London and you’re lucky enough to have a garden.

Clear The Ground First

You might want to start by removing all those remnants of summer – deflate the paddling pool, pull up the parasols, strip down the BBQ, fold up the deck chairs and ask yourself where on earth you can store all this stuff until the sun comes back. If you don’t have room outside or space indoors, Attic Self Storage is happy to provide the sleek modern alternative to erecting an ugly great big shed.

From Lawn Mower To Leaf Blower

Next – book an appointment in late October or early November to give your lawn its final cut before winter. After you’ve mowed the grass, give it a rake to remove any moss, spike it with a fork to improve winter drainage, then apply a bit of top dressing and lawn feed.

Once you’re disposed of the clippings you can put the lawn mower away until next spring (yes, we have accommodation available) and arm yourself with a leaf blower as the autumn does its darndest to drive you doolally and show you just why the Americans call it ‘fall’.

More Power To The Tools

The growing season is over, so sharpen those shears, grab the secateurs and fire up the hedge strimmer. It’s all about cutting back, pruning, getting rid of the deadwood and leaving everything neat and tidy ready for the spring.

Here are the top ten tasks you’ll need tools to tackle:

• Dig up those dead tomato plants and any other annuals.
• Cut back your herbaceous perennials close to the ground.
• Tidy up your borders.
• Remove any weeds, sticks and debris.
• Empty your compost bin and spread it around the garden.
• Mulch with bark around the base of plants to protect them from frost.
• Trim your shrubs, hedges and trees.
• Get rid of any damaged branches.
• Stick all the green waste in the compost bin and begin the cycle again.
• There’s still time for a bit of late planting to add some winter colour – put in some vibrant evergreens or try dogwood to create flickering flames of orange, yellow and scarlet even during the darkest days of December. Oh, and don’t forget to plant your spring bulbs.

Round And Round The Garden Path

Once you’ve done all the dirty work, the last step is to clean up any paths, paving and decking. Use a stiff bristled brush to sweep away the mud, moss and lichen and scrub down wooden fences. If you’ve got a pressure washer now is the time to pull your wellies on and unleash its unbridled power on the filthiest corners of your outside space. Don’t leave a stone un-jetted.

There. Now you can relax.

Gardeners’ Question Time

Let’s see if the horticultural experts have been paying attention. So where’s the safest, securest place to store your spades, forks, rakes, trowels, hoes, scythes, secateurs, pruning shears, strimmers, chainsaws, jet washers, lawn mowers, rotovators, tractors or combine harvesters this winter?

Phone 020 3985 6700 for the answer.

And finally, here’s an interesting little nugget we dug up on the internet:

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Did you know that the contrary Mary featured in the nursery rhyme is believed to be ‘Bloody Mary’ aka Mary Tudor, daughter of Henry VIII? Certain historians seem to think the verse is less about her favourite plants and flowers and more about her penchant for torturing Protestants. ‘Silver bells’ stood for thumb screws, ‘Cockle Shells’ are a genital torture device and ‘Pretty maids all in a row’ represented people lining up to be executed by the ‘Halifax Gibbet’ or guillotine. Not such a sweet rhyme after all.

Happy Halloween!