Preparing beds and borders

Here are just a few ways this task can help you:

• It's a good workout that'll raise your heart rate, but do pace yourself and take breaks as it could lead to exhaustion if you push yourself too far.
• Great for building strength and stamina, but again pace yourself, keep yourself hydrated.
• Works our balance and reach but try to keep your back neutral, minimise bending at the waist, don’t lift when your back is twisted or turned.
• Good for gross motor movement, working muscles and co-ordination, but remember to move your feet, positioning yourself close to the bed particularly when lifting.
• Great catharsis, tackling stress and anxiety through exercise
• Make time to rest as you work, notice the sounds and scents of nature. Hopefully you will quickly have a robin or blackbird for company waiting to tuck into some insects that you have kindly unearthed for them to feed their young

• You can take your time and do this over a number of days or even a couple of weeks - pacing yourself is important.
• You can use long-handled hand tools to work soil from a seated position. Our Carry on Gardening website has details here.
• If you use long-handled grabbers in the home, they can be useful in the garden too.
• If you are gardening from a seated position or have had injuries that prevent you from heavier work like digging you may need a friend to help begin this process, or the same principles of removing weeds and loosening soil can be applied to container gardening.

• Children can get involved with removing stones and roots.
• Children may be able to add compost as well using scoops or trowels.
• Older children may be able to help fork over but remember to work at a safe distance. If two people using long-handled tools can touch each other, they are too close.

If preparing a new bed or border, start by identifying the right part of the garden. For vegetable growing, you want as much sun as possible and probably need a minimum of 4-5 hours of sun hitting that bed each day over the summer.

Go outside early between 7-9am and note which parts of the garden are sunny. If you know where the sun sets you can probably work out which areas of the garden get the most sun.

But if your garden has trees or building bordering and you are new to gardening, come back outside once every hour or so and keep checking how the sun moves across your garden.

Flower or shrub borders can accommodate shade and the selection of plants for the space changes to accommodate how much sunlight the border will get.

Plants and seeds usually indicate that they are suitable for either Full Sun (6+hours of direct sun each day) part shade ()3-5 hours of direct sun each day), shade (less than 3 hours each day). Choosing the right plants for a new border also needs consideration for soil type as well.

Make sure you are dressed for gardening. Wear sturdy non slip shoes, loose fitting clothes and a hat if it is sunny, even in spring the sun can burn if we are out for long periods:

To prepare a new bed or border, start at step 1.

For refreshing a bed or border, work from step 6.

Step 1

Use or make some garden line markers (you can tie string between two 30cm stakes or to create curved beds either use a rope or peg the string into the ground with pegs) to mark out the space.