Winter weekends, when they are not too miserable and wet, are a good time to get some bigger projects out of the way, ready for the season ahead. Here are three to keep you busy and active out in the garden when it’s dry:
- Install a water butt (or two)
If you’d like to save on water, then getting a couple of water butts up and running is a great idea. It’s usually fairly straightforward, too, and involves attaching a diverter between the downpipe from your roof gutter and the water butt. For this, you will normally need a hacksaw to cut through the downpipe, and a drill to make a hole in the water butt itself (you’ll then feed the diverter hose through this hole. Don’t forget to put the waterbutt on a sturdy stand, high enough that you can get your watering can underneath the tap! - Build raised beds & planters
This is a good time of year to make a start on new beds. You’ll just need some timber and a practical mind. There are loads of suggestions on YouTube, and we’ve got an article that you may find useful. There is no real reason to dig over the soil first, unless your plot is riddled with brambles and invasive weeds – you can put raised beds on top of grass and weaker weeds and simply lay cardboard at the bottom before filling with compost (this is all detailed in our article) - Start a compost system
If you have space for a compost bin or ideally 2 or 3, then it is a really good idea to start a compost system. We have a guide you can use to get started. At the simplest level, you can buy a compost bin from a garden centre and use that. If you feel a bit of DIY coming along, then you can easily build square compost bays from old pallets or timber. Having more than one allows you to have one bin ‘on the go’ (the one that you are topping up,) one bin full and busy composting away, and one bin full of compost and ready to use.