Renovating and existing border

Renovating and existing border is all about planning ahead. If the border does not have any difficult weeds rather than weed it by hand its often easier to remove any existing plants such as shrubs that are not required in the new border design and perennial plants that can be dug up and place into pots ready for replanting later.

Once you have removed the plants that need removing cut down and weeds roughly with a spade or hoe and cover with weed ground sheeting. This left for a period of three to 6 months will smother and weeds annual weeds and once removed you will start with a clean border soil. Remember to peg down the sheeting and keep an eye out for weeds growing down the sides.

As this stage if you have any its worth adding some garden compost or some spent mushroom compost ideally one builder barrow per four square metres under the sheeting. If you need to improve the look of the area whilst the sheeting is down it can be covered with bark or wood chips

Once you remove the weed sheeting you will need to apply a dressing of Growmore fertiliser and lightly fork over the area