A Fresh Start

Take a quick look round your garden. If it's looking a little jaded, some tender loving care and a general spruce up will work wonders. Sketch out the garden on a piece of paper and mark in any existing features, from a garden gate or an overgrown hedge to a tired piece of grass. Then work your way through the garden attending to each one … you'll be amazed at the difference. Feeding and watering an old garden soon brings its benefits. In small town gardens especially, the soil can often become thin and tired. Give it a short-term boost with a little fertiliser from your local garden centre - remember to follow the instructions carefully.

Lawns

Lawns that have been neglected will run to seed and let weeds like buttercups, daisies and mosses take over. In spring or summer, when the grass is high, trim the edges first and then mow regularly. Take out weeds with a knife, cutting their roots just below the surface. In autumn and winter, apply a proprietary lawn feeder and rake the lawn.

Weeds

Enjoy the chase - get to know your weeds from your flowers. The best time to treat weeds is in the autumn or early spring. Cut down growth to ground level using a strimmer or secateurs. Lift any garden plants and store them in pots or a clean patch of ground until the weeding is complete. Use a garden fork to lift the soil, and shake out all the weeds. Repeat the digging over in a month's time to remove any weeds that were left behind.

Shrubs

Shrubs are bushy, woody plants that contribute colour, form and variety to the garden all year round. But they can outgrow themselves. In late winter or early spring, use a pair of secateurs to cut out the dead branches and prune out some of the old wood. Now cut back the younger, healthier green shoots to shape the bush to your liking. The rejuvenated shrub may flower poorly in its first year. Occasionally shrubs can cause problems, blocking land drains with their roots or scaling walls. Care is needed with some of the rampant climbers such as Virginia creepers, honeysuckle or some varieties of Clematis, but annual pruning will keep shrubs within their proper bounds.

Fences & Hedges

Good fences make good neighbours. And they instantly improve the appearance of the garden. Treat timber with a preservative but be sure to keep it away from any nearby plants. A hedge that has outgrown itself can be revived, but only during the winter before any birds start to nest. Cut the top to the required height and thin out large branches. Trim new growth with garden shears in late summer. (Except for yew, conifer hedges are unlikely to respond to hard pruning.)

Pruning

Pruning shrubs, fruit bushes and trees will bring them down to a more manageable size and eventually improve their appearance and yield. Pruning stimulates fresh growth - but take care: savage pruning can kill a plant. Cut away dead or diseased branches and any stems which cross. Regularly cut flower heads when they have finished flowering.
As a general guide, prune plants which flower before the summer solstice (21 June) straight after flowering, and tackle the others before new growth starts in late winter or spring.

Paths & Patios

Paths and patios which have become overgrown are easy to restore. Clear away the weeds by hand or with a proprietary weed killer (follow the instructions carefully). Stubborn weeds will need several applications. Uneven paving slabs can be resettled on a bed of sand, although eventually it will be better to set these in mortar over a compacted hardcore. Clean patio tiles with warm, soapy water.

Planting Plans

Once you have brought your new garden under control, begin to introduce new plants. Whether they come from friends, local markets or garden centres, introduce new plants with some sense of planning - a rose bush will look out of place in a rock garden, for example. Allow container-grown plants to soak in a bucket of water for a couple of hours before planting.

Pots and containers

Plants grown in pots and containers will brighten up even a small area, such as a tiny front garden or a little space by the back door. Use a collection of containers of the same size and appearance or arrange an assortment of different sizes with larger pots at the back, raised up on a few bricks. Change the display through the seasons, putting out containers planted with bulbs in the spring, annuals in summer and evergreens like ivy or alpines in the winter.