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Flower pots, forks, trowels, peat …PC? It might not be the most obvious gardening aid, but your computer could be as indispensable as all those other tools

Whether your garden is a sprawling affair of lawn and trees or a window box, the arrival of springtime means one thing: everything starts to grow.

In most gardens, the first couple of forays outside after the winter tend to involve simply taking in what needs to be done: the weeds that need uprooting, plants and flowers that have died and general tidying-up. Within this feature we’ll cover all these bases, pointing you in the direction of plenty of places to get help with garden maintenance.

Hopefully, though, you’ll be looking further than that, and we’ll try to plant some seeds of thought that will see your garden blossom into something to be proud of. With the Easter bank holidays coming up, there’s no better time.

It pays to plan

We’ve all watched garden makeover programmes on television and marvelled at what can be done with even the most compact of outdoor spaces. It’s easy to get carried away and imagine similar results in our own garden, but generally we overlook one major factor.

The gardens we see on TV are transformed in the space of an hour-long programme, when in reality it can take months of sustained effort. Like it or not, plants can’t be hurried.

That’s not to say achieving impressive results in the garden is difficult, but you won’t get very far without some kind of plan. The first thing to consider is what exactly you want to achieve.

Maybe you’re quite happy with the overall look of your garden, and simply want to tidy up a bit after the winter. There’s certainly nothing wrong with that, although we hope you’ll be inspired to go further.

It’s more likely, however, that you’ll be looking to add some colour or variety to a garden over the next few months. For many people, this process ends up being little more scientific than buying some seeds in the garden section of their local Asda or B&Q based on the picture on the packet.

This method leaves a lot to be desired, as there is far more than just appearance to take into account when deciding on plants for your garden.

Neil Bromhall, who developed the Complete Gardens CD-ROM, has some simple pointers on where to start when introducing new plants to a garden.

“Ideally, you’ll need to know what type of soil you have. There’s nothing wrong with simply asking a neighbour or, alternatively, you could get a soil testing kit. The ground needs to be prepared by digging over and mixing in plenty of well rotted manure for plants to thrive,” Mr Bromhall suggests.

“You also need to know which part of the garden gets most hours of the sun or which has shade, which parts are dry and which areas have moist soil, as some plants will not thrive if the conditions aren’t right. Once you have this basic information, you can have fun selecting plants that you know will grow in the garden, and from these create a garden with continuous, changing colour and interest.”

Web of growth

A PC can help out in this regard, as there are plenty of websites full of great advice, both from experts and from fellow gardeners. We’ll look at some of these shortly, but the web is also ideal for tracking down the best deals on everything from a garden shed to the tools to fill it with, while there is plenty of good software out there to help you design and maintain the perfect garden.

So even if rain puts paid to your plans to get out in the garden, the time doesn’t have to be wasted with your PC and the internet as your allies.

Anyone can take advantage of the huge number of gardening websites to be found online. See our Site Seeing section for gardening sites.

While everyone has different gardening needs, there are a number of excellent all-in-one sites to be found online that have something for everyone. The Royal Horticultural Society is the UK’s leading gardening charity, and its excellent site is a great place for gardeners of all levels of interest.

As with so many other areas of interest, the BBC covers gardening with its usual blend of practicality and depth. Features include an interactive guide entitled ‘How to be a gardener’ presented by Alan Titchmarsh, while new to the site are three regularly updated weblogs from professional gardeners.

In a slight twist on the traditional gardening calendar, the site also features a section called ‘Today in your garden’, including a downloadable Desktop calendar, a round-up of essential jobs for the month, and a breakdown of plants now in flower.

While we all look to expert advice to guide us, sometimes opinions from ordinary people are of more practical value. Fortunately, as with most things in life, there is no shortage of people willing to share their experiences, and many online forums and chat sites exist dedicated specifically to gardens.

The all-in-one sites mentioned feature discussion boards, but you may also want to take a look at sites such as Garden Forum. This excellent service gives access to a wide range of gardening message boards covering many topics. You have to register to use the message boards, but the sheer volume of information you can access makes it worthwhile.

While many gardening websites and resources focus on those with large gardens and plenty of time to maintain them, for many of us the reality is very different. The requirements of the urban gardener are unique, and place a far higher premium on being able to make the most of a small space.

The Urban Garden is a site that specialises in gardening equipment and accessories specifically for the city dweller, with plenty of stylish gardenware that doesn’t take up a lot of space.

Tools of the trade

No matter how green your fingers, they won’t mow the lawn or turn over the soil. Gardening tools and equipment can be expensive, and it pays to shop around. Check the websites of shopping giants like B&Q and Homebase – most of them have special offers running throughout the springtime, and will deliver to your door.

For comparative purposes, check out Carry On Gardening. Their Tools section includes a links page to dozens of manufacturers of gardening equipment, and the site also has a list of tips on how to get the best value for money when buying tools.

We don’t like to admit it, but for many of us gardening is nothing more than toil, and it’s sometimes good to remind ourselves of just how spectacular nature can be. The world-renowned Chelsea Flower Show is organised by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) and takes place at the end of May each year. The RHS site has information about this and other flower shows, with lots of pictures from past events and details on tickets.

Lastly, while we’re doing our best to help you get more from your time in the garden, we can’t ignore the fact that for some people the pastime simply doesn’t hold any thrill. That doesn’t mean your outdoor area needs to be an eyesore, as there are several excellent gardening services to do the hard work for you. A simple web search in your own area will reveal more results, but for Londoners, Grandscapes is one service that can do everything from mowing the lawn to planning and executing a complete garden makeover.

Gardening software

While you obviously can’t do any gardening from behind a computer, you can use a PC to learn more about plants and gardening techniques. As we’ve shown above, the internet has a wide range of uses, but there are also a number of dedicated software programs that provide all the information you need in one place. There are several packages available, whether you want a plant encyclopaedia for reference or a design package to help plan a garden from.

Other plant encyclopaedias include Growing Plants from Fasttrak and the Geoff Hamilton title from GSP.

Many home design packages also include facilities for designing the garden, but oten the quality leaves a lot to be desired, particularly when it comes to the library of plants. We were impressed by Master Landscape, an affordable package that places equal focus on interior and exterior design.

Dedicated garden design packages are not terribly common, but Geoff Hamilton’s 3D Garden Designer is an affordable – albeit limited – example that is easy to use.

Alternatively, you could try out free software that lets you add plants and flowers directly to a real-life photo of your home. Go to our Workshop section on how to download and use it - gardening software

Get growing

There’s no denying that the main component of gardening is spending time outdoors, getting your hands dirty. But a computer can play a big role in just how rewarding it is, helping you to learn more about gardening and plan how to put that knowledge into practice.

Gardening doesn’t have to be a chore, and if you make the most of your PC and the internet, it won’t be. Follow the advice we’ve given here and all you’ll need to do is get out in the sunshine and watch an ideal garden come to life.

Written by Martin James for Computeractive magazine

This article was created: 21 December 2006.
This article was last edited: 9 February 2007.

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