Five Easy Gardening Jobs You Can Do To Improve Your Home

If you’re looking to spruce up your yard and give your home a boost, there are some simple tasks you can tackle. These five straightforward gardening jobs will help keep your outdoor space in top shape. So, roll up your sleeves, grab your tools, and let’s get to work on making your garden the envy of the neighbourhood.

Here are five things you want to keep on top of in your garden all year round…

Happy lawn

If your lawn is feeling the strain of summer heat and water restrictions then a good fertiliser will provide all the food and nutrients it needs to get growing thick and strong. Start by aerating the soil so you can break up the hard soil and nourish the roots and provide proper hydration.

To aerate the soil you’ll need to sprinkle the ground with small holes. You can poke holes if you like although if your yard is larger you might like some help to speed things up and cut down on labour. Some people like to wear specialised spiked shoes, great for getting some exercise, or you can buy a small manual roller or hire a motorised lawn corer.  No matter what you choose, your aim is to air out the root system. The tools for the job will depend on the size of your yard, how hard your soil is and your physical fitness.

Follow-up with a suitable fertiliser to kick start your sensational green carpet.

Clean and tidy

Autumn is so beautiful as the leaves change colour, not so great when they litter your lawn with dead, brown leaves. Even if you don’t have a lot of deciduous plants in your yard you’ll still find leaves gathered in the corners, gutters and garden beds, blown in on the wind. As well as leaves, you’ll probably have collected dust and dirt on your pavers, cobwebs on kids play equipment and garden furniture and sticks, branches and bark.

A once over to remove these small obstacles makes an incredible difference to the appearance of your yard.

Tools you can consider using are:

– An edger or trimmer to cut the lawn away from garden bed edges, paths and decking.

– A backpack blower for blowing away leaves, cobwebs, lawn clippings and dust.

– A high-pressure sprayer for hosing down pavements, pathways or patios.

If your lawn has taken over your pavements, you might need a shovel or other deep cutting tool to slice through the grass sheet where the path starts underneath.

Fence repair

There is a lot of value in privacy. A fence offers safety, security, and privacy, but only if it’s strong and well-maintained. New fences are expensive so it’s definitely worth your while to keep the fence you have in great shape. Replace any broken or damaged posts or rails as needed, re-string any broken or loose wires and give your fence a new coat of paint to keep it fresh and looking lively.

Solid fences are appealing to future buyers who have children or pets. It’s their security and peace of mind.

You can easily source second-hand and recycled materials for fence repair jobs if you want to keep the budget low.

The tool you may want to consider using for this job is a fence post hole digger. You can buy a manual drill that makes light work for both fences and planting shrubs and established trees or you can look to hire a motorised version that is lightweight and safe to use. The right type will depend on the number of holes you need, your soil type, and hardness and your physical fitness.

Neat hedges

If you like your privacy there is no need to cut your hedges back too much, a little trim to keep it in line is all you will need for a great look and seamless flow to your garden. Shaping your hedges regularly helps keep the branches slender and young so they will be easier to maintain all year and you won’t have to hack through and cut away at chunks and wait for regrowth.

If your hedges are tall it’s worth having or hiring a long-handled trimmer to get an even look all over. A short trimmer and ladder combination isn’t safe, so be sure to value your health and do the work from the ground with the right tools. As always with heights and equipment, proceed with caution and always ask a friend to help out if the task is too big to handle safely alone.

Stump removal

There are plenty of reasons why you might have a tree stump featured in your garden; a storm that took your tree out, a natural death from old age or disease, or a tree you needed to have cut out. The reason the stump is still there is simple, it’s just too hard to get rid of. Well, now is the time. If you want to add value to your home, you need to take out any dead weight.

The tool that makes this easy is a stump grinder. It’s a petrol run sawblade on wheels that grinds a stump down to the ground level or a little below if you prefer. There are different sizes to suit different jobs and you can get even the most challenging stump ground away anywhere between 15 minutes and two hours. That means you don’t have to rip up stubborn roots or bring in a tractor to haul the submerged portion of a tree out.

Because of the noise and danger of flying debris, you’ll need safety equipment for your eyes and ears, as well as full coverage of clothing.

Any equipment you use, be sure to be safe, especially if you are getting up into your gutters to do a great clean there.

A great yard adds value, so put in the work so you can put your feet up and enjoy, or open the doors to show someone else how great life can be.