Fixin' in up

What search terms do you even use to find out whether and how thoroughly you're supposed to clean the flowerbeds in the spring? I went for "kukkapenkin siistiminen keväällä" ("tidying flowerbeds in spring") and the second hit was titled, appropriately, Kukkapenkin kevätkunnostus (fixing up your flowerbeds for spring) which gives a good overview. (1) The first hit was to an article warning people not to do it too early or too thoroughly or you'll ruin your garden, true to the Finnish mentality of never do anything in case you screw it up.

We went shopping on Saturday and bought a pressure washer, some deck cleaner and tinted wood oil. This is why:

The deck isn't in great condition and needs to be sanded and oiled. The fences could use some cleaning, too, but I have no idea if using a pressure washer on painted wood would just strip the paint off.

(We think this might have been a gate originally, but it certainly won't open now and there are bushes and things on both sides.)

I'm all fired up now to start cleaning things, but of course I've promised to take our resident Horsey Girl to the Tampere horse fair today and Firstborn rides along to visit her friend.

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(1) I find my materials in Finnish because it's likely to produce more relevant hits than English. There "may" be some gardening stuff in English that's more relevant in, say, Surrey or California or South Africa than it is in cold, dark Finland with its acidic soil.