Garden Maintenance Tasks That Are Essential (But Easy To Forget!)

Life is busy and sometimes the less well-known and understood garden tasks that need doing are all too easy to forget. However, to have a truly beautiful and well-organized outdoor space, you must pay attention to and never forget to complete the following tasks. 

Aerating your lawn

A great deal of people never aerate their lawn, and that is a shame because completing this relatively simple maintenance task is not only easy but helps your lawn to ‘breathe’ and be as healthy as possible too. 

Aerating is the act of making long holes in your lawn. These holes allow your lawn to breathe by encouraging the movement of oxygen, CO2, water, and nutrients. Indeed, even if you have an area of lawn that is brown and dead-looking, proper aeration can help bring it back to life. 

Many people aerate their lawns by taking a garden fork and pushing it through the grass and into the soil underneath. However, it's also possible to get aeration shoes, which are plates with long metal spokes that can be strapped onto the bottom of your normal flat shoes. Then all you need to do is go for a stroll around your garden to complete the task. 

However, it is important to aerate your lawn at the correct time. In winter the ground will be too hard to do successfully, so that makes the best time to complete this task is either autumn or spring. If you have to choose between the two then spring may be marginally better because aerating your lawn will help encourage the already new growth that is occurring. 

Maintain your lawn mower

Another important but often forgotten garden maintenance task is taking proper care of your lawn mower. After all, your mower is a machine so will require regular care if it is to function properly and last for the longest time possible. 

Many tasks need to be completed to properly maintain your mower, the first of which is to regularly sharpen the blades. You can do this by using a flat hand file on the blades once they have been removed from the mower. However, you must never sharpen the blades while they are still attached to the mower as this can be very dangerous. 

Another important mower maintenance task is to make sure you clean the carburetor regularly. This is a crucial action because if your carburetor gets too dirty it will stop your lawn mower from starting making it impossible to use. 

Finally, when it comes to maintaining your mower you must change the oil at least once a year. This is because oil keeps the engine of your mower lubricated, which ensures it runs smoothly at all times. 

Taking care of your shed 
Next, an incredibly important garden maintenance task that most people forget all about is taking care of your shed and outbuildings. Indeed many of us just forget about them and leave such buildings to the elements. However, this is a very bad idea because it can create all sorts of problems in the long run including excessive wear, pests, and even security concerts. After all, most of us have expensive garden equipment like mowers in our outbuildings. 

With that in mind, there are a few tasks that you need to complete regularly to make sure your outbuilding stays in the best possible condition. The first is to give them a lick of paint or varnish every so often, as this will help keep out the elements and ensure they look aesthetically pleasing in your outside space as well. 

Secondly, it's important to secure your shed and other outbuildings, as this will dissuade anyone from helping themselves to your garden tools and equipment. Additionally, a secure outbuilding will be safer for you and your family because any chemicals such as fertilizer, and pest repellent will be safely stored away where no one can handle it accidentally. 

Composting 

There are so many reasons why composting is an essential garden maintenance task. First of all, it cuts down on garden and home food waste, as all the nutrients in the stuff you compost go back into the ecosystem. Secondly, composting provides you with an excellent source of food for your garden for free and without having to resort to using chemicals. 

​

​Of course, it's easy to ignore or forget to compost items, and to take care of your compost heap, especially if you are a little squeamish around worms. However, regular care and upkeep will produce results that are well worth the effort.