The gardening year
A season-by-season calendar for a Surrey garden
Most gardens do not need constant attention — they need the right attention at the right moment. This is the gardening year as it runs in this part of Surrey: what wants doing when, so you can either get ahead of it yourself or know exactly what to ask for.
Early spring
March – April
Everything starts moving at once. First cut of the year goes on with the blades set high — take the top off, don't scalp it. Beds get weeded, edged and mulched before growth closes over and makes the job twice as slow. Late-flowering shrubs are pruned, summer bedding can be sown under cover, and bare patches in the lawn are worth over-seeding now while the ground is warming and still damp.
Late spring
May – June
The busiest stretch. Mowing moves to a proper rhythm, hedges put on their first flush, and anything raised from seed goes out once the frost risk has passed. Spring bulbs are left to die back rather than tidied away early — cutting the leaves off now costs you next year's flowers. Borders fill fast, so weeding little and often beats one heroic afternoon.
High summer
July – August
Holding the line rather than starting things. Mow higher in a dry spell so the grass shades its own roots — a lawn that goes brown in August is dormant, not dead, and will come back. Deadhead to keep flowering going, water new planting properly rather than lightly and often, and get formal hedges cut once nesting is over. Watch for pest damage building up on soft new growth.
Autumn
September – October
The best planting window of the year, and the one most people miss. Ground is still warm and there is reliable rain, so shrubs, perennials and spring bulbs put in now establish far better than anything planted in spring. Lawns get their last cuts with the blades raised, leaves are cleared off grass before they smother it, and borders are cut back or left standing for the winter — your choice, and there are good arguments both ways.
Winter
November – February
Quiet, but not empty. This is the season for the heavy work: clearing an overgrown garden while the growth is down and you can actually see what you're dealing with, cutting back shrubs and small trees that have outgrown their spot, clearing moss and weeds off paths, and reshaping beds. Dormant pruning now sets up the shape for the next five years. A garden sorted out in January is a garden that isn't a crisis in May.
The thing most people get wrong
Timing beats effort.
A hedge cut at the wrong point in the year takes two seasons to recover its shape. Spring bulbs tidied away too early cost you next year's flowers. A lawn scalped in a dry August goes brown and stays brown. Almost every garden disappointment is a timing problem rather than an effort problem — which is good news, because timing is free.
What shapes the work
Every garden is a little different.
How much a garden needs, and when, comes down to a handful of things — and these are exactly what gets talked through when a quote is put together.
- 01How much of the garden is lawn, how much is hedge, and how much is border — the three want completely different amounts of attention.
- 02Whether the garden is ticking over or needs bringing back from overgrown first: the second is a one-off job before the ordinary rhythm starts.
- 03The plants you actually have — some hedges and shrubs have strict timing and cutting at the wrong point costs a season.
- 04Aspect and shelter. A shaded, north-facing garden grows moss on the paths and little on the lawn; an open sunny one needs watering and more mowing.
- 05How hands-on you want to be. Plenty of people want the heavy or awkward jobs taken off them and are happy doing the pottering themselves.
None of this is secret knowledge, and you are very welcome to use it and do the lot yourself. If you would rather not, that is what we are for — email with a few details about the garden and you'll get a free, no-obligation quote and an honest view of what it actually needs.
Rather not do it yourself?
Email a few details and have the gardening year taken off your hands — one visit or an occasional hand through the season.