Why the Spring Border Deserves Your Attention First

A garden border that has sat through winter rarely looks its best by March. Stems have collapsed, weeds have quietly got on with the business of spreading, and the soil surface has been battered by rain and frost. The good news is that borders are forgiving. An hour or two of proper attention now, before growth really takes off, pays you back all season with stronger plants, fewer weeds and far less watering in July.

The trick is to work in the right order. Clear the ground first, feed the soil next, then cut back anything that has been left standing for the birds and the frost. Doing it the other way round means trampling on freshly tidied soil or burying weeds under a mulch.

Clear the Weeds Properly, Not Just Quickly

Start on a dry day when the soil is workable but not sticky. If it clings to your fork in heavy lumps, wait a week. Walking on wet clay does more long-term damage than any weed.

Annual weeds are easy — a sharp hoe run just below the surface on a sunny morning will slice them off and they will shrivel where they lie. Perennials are the real test of patience, and skimping here means repeating the job in June.

• Ground elder, couch grass and bindweed: these spread by root and will regrow from the smallest fragment. Use a hand fork to lift the whole root run, following it back to its source rather than tugging at the top growth.
• Dandelions and docks: use a tap-root weeder or an old knife to loosen the long root before levering it out. Snap it halfway and you will simply get two plants.
• Creeping buttercup and lesser celandine: common in damp borders. Lift and remove rather than hoeing, which only chops the runners into more pieces.
• Seed heads: bin anything in flower or seed. Do not add it to the compost heap unless you are confident it heats up properly.

If a border is badly infested, it is worth lifting the plants you want to keep, clearing the ground thoroughly, and replanting. It feels drastic, but it saves years of skirmishing.

Feed the Soil and Improve Its Structure

Plants in borders are usually hungry by spring, especially after a wet winter that has washed nutrients through the soil. Rather than reaching for a bag of fertiliser, think about the soil itself.

Spread a generous layer of well-rotted manure, garden compost or leafmould across the border — around 5cm is plenty, more on sandy soils that drain fast. You do not need to dig it in. Worms and the weather will pull it down into the root zone, improving structure and water-holding capacity as they go. On heavy clay, this single habit does more good than almost anything else.

For particularly poor or compacted ground, fork the top 15cm or so gently, working backwards so you are not standing on the area you have just loosened. Avoid deep digging, which damages the soil's structure and brings weed seeds to the surface.

If you want a little extra push for hungry flowering plants, a balanced slow-release general fertiliser scratched into the surface in early spring is fine. Just keep it away from the crown of the plant and water it in if the weather stays dry.

Cut Back Tired Stems and Shape What Remains

By mid-spring, most herbaceous perennials that were left standing over winter can be cut down to a low mound of fresh new growth, roughly 5–10cm above soil level. Take care not to slice through emerging shoots — part the old stems with one hand and cut with the other.

• Ornamental grasses: cut back hard to about 10cm before new growth appears. Wear gloves; the leaf edges are sharp.
• Penstemons and salvias: trim back to a strong pair of buds, leaving the older woody framework intact. Cutting into old wood can kill them.
• Lavender: shear lightly into a loose dome, taking the current season's growth but staying above the woody base, which rarely reshoots.
• Sedums and asters: pinch out or cut back by a third now for a stockier, less floppy plant later on.
• Evergreen shrubs: remove dead, damaged or crossing stems and lightly tidy the shape, but leave anything that flowers in spring until after it has bloomed.

Mulch, Edge and Water In

Once the ground is clean and the plants have been cut back, spread a mulch of bark, composted bark or leafmould about 5cm deep across the bare soil. Keep it clear of plant crowns and stems — piling it against them encourages rot and hides slugs. A mulch does three jobs at once: it suppresses weed seedlings, holds moisture and slowly feeds the border as it breaks down.

Finish by re-cutting the lawn edge with a half-moon spade for a crisp line, and water the whole border well if the weather turns dry. New growth is thirsty, and a good soak now encourages roots to travel downwards rather than sitting near the surface.

Do this once, properly, in spring and you will spend far less time on the border for the rest of the year — and rather more time simply enjoying it.