Soft green lawns, manicured even flower beds, perfectly regimented hedges and impressive water features are what we’ve come to expect from the gardens of National Trust properties around the country.

True, it takes teams of gardeners to make these spaces perfect, but that doesn’t mean you can’t single-handedly create your own little patch of perfection.

Luscious Lawns

Perfect grassy gardens can require a bit of attention and maintenance. To help you we’ve written a whole article on getting a great lawn. Here are some key points to take note of.

• For verdant green grass, cut it regularly and don’t trim it too low. Otherwise, you’ll cut too much off the blades and your lawn will be sparser and scratchier to sit on.
• Keep your mower blades sharp. Blunt blades can pull up whole tufts of grass and make your lawn look scruffy. Here’s how to replace them if you need to.
• Keep an eye out for pesky weeds. Left unchecked they’ll only spread!

Manicured Hedges

Some people favour informal hedges whereas others prefer perfect pruning. Here are a couple of tips for both types to keep your hedge healthy.

• Get yourself a hedge trimmer to make keeping your hedge in check much easier. Once you’ve got one, keep those trimmer blades sharp. Just like knives, a blunt blade can slip more easily and be dangerous.
• Cut above last year’s growth for a fuller, bushier hedge with fewer gaps in it
• Put mulch under your hedge to provide nutrients and prevent weeds from springing up.

One thing to note is to be careful of birds’ nests. Check your hedge for before cutting it. It’s actually against the law to disturb birds nesting in your garden and you’d probably feel really bad if you accidentally destroyed a nest. (We know we would!)

Gorgeous Garden Flowers

Your blooms can make or break your garden. Here are our floral tips.

• Plant a variety of seasonal blooms so there’s something to look at in your garden all year round. Spring flowers include crocuses, daffodils and hyacinths. In summer roses, dahlias and marigolds come into their own. Autumn brings camellias and chrysanthemums and even in winter you can still enjoy colourful evergreen foliage.
• Keep newly planted flowers and shrubs well watered, especially if the weather’s dry and watch out for weeds trying to muscle in and steal the nutrients from your blooms.
• When choosing your flowers and plants, landscape gardeners recommend choosing complimentary colours, planting odd numbers of the same plants (threes, fives etc.), and choosing a variety of different heights and foliage for added interest.

Water Features

Moving water encourages birds into your garden far more than still bodies of water like bird baths. So a water feature means your little patch of land will have more feathered friends. They’re friends because they keep down the numbers of slugs and other pests that attack your plants.

Think your garden could give the National Trust treasures a run for their money? Share a picture with us on our Facebook page so we can see for ourselves!

Tags: Garden Care, Gardening Tips