The need to rush outdoors and start planting may quickly overtake you, and you may find yourself in the same situation. When planting young seedlings, it is better to wait until spring has fully arrived before doing so. However, this does not imply that preparations can’t be started right away. Prepare your garden for a beautiful spring by taking advantage of the last few weeks of winter.
When the weather warms up after a long, cold winter, it’s a positive indication. Spring is the best time to prepare our gardens for the arrival of fresh flowers or veggies.
There are a few things we can do to prepare our gardens for spring before the season comes! Preparation work in the garden, whether for new blossoms, veggies, or vivid flowers, should be done towards the end of winter. In addition, this provides your vegetables the greatest chance of surviving in your garden.
Fortunately, these tasks are straightforward, and you’ll soon be able to relax in your garden. Get your garden ready for the spring season by following these tips.
TLC for Your Tools
Take inventory of your tools and equipment while the ground is still frozen or too wet to work with.
- Gas-powered equipment should be serviced regularly: Sharpen mower blades, change spark plugs, drain and replenish gasoline, top up the oil, and check to see whether everything is working properly.
- Pruning tools should be sharpened and oiled. Use steel wool to remove any rust, a sharpening stone to restore the blades’ sharpness, and a mild penetrating oil to cover the blades and moving components. If you don’t feel like doing it yourself, a local hardware shop may be able to assist you.)
- Last year, did you break the handle of a shovel or digging fork? Repair and repair digging tools: Rather of throwing away a perfectly nice tool, consider getting a new handle to go with it.
- Every year, some gardeners polish their shovels’ digging blades by hand using a coarse file. At the absolute least, they should be cleaned of any accumulated dirt and oiled with penetrating oil to keep rust at bay.
The Yard Can Be Stylish.
With leaves and other waste strewn about and half-dead plants sprouting up in unexpected places, winter tends to leave the yard looking less than presentable, so it’s time to do some yard work. Spring flowers require a beautiful background!
- You may rake up leaves and put them in your compost pile or save to use as mulch in the summer heat. To produce mulch, you can either bag up the wood and put it in a chipper (if you have one) or set it out on the curb for municipal pick-up. Compost your old mulch by raking up your garden beds. Mix in a 12-inch layer of completed compost to replenish the nutrients that have been lost.
- Pruning and preparing the skin:
- Remove and compost any autumn annuals that perished over the winter. Trim winter dieback from evergreen plants that have been wrapped in burlap (i.e. leaves and branches that have turned brown). Prepare for new growth by cutting back any perennial and decorative grasses that weren’t trimmed back in the autumn down to around four inches high.
- Make a clean cut rather than a stubby one when removing broken branches from the bigger branch they’re linked to. Removing dead wood, controlling size, and enhancing blooming and overall look are among reasons to prune ornamental trees, shrubs, and vines. If you didn’t trim your fruit trees, grapevines, and other food plants during the winter, this is your final opportunity.
Preparation of the Vegetable Bed
- Toss away any vegetables that didn’t make it through the winter and put them in the compost. To prepare the ground for tilling and planting, remove drip irrigation tubing. Cut down your fall-planted cover crops and allow the stems to dry for a few weeks before tilling the debris into the soil. It is time to remove the mulch from your garden beds and put it to the compost.
- Boosting fecundity: Spread 1-2 inches of fresh compost on your garden beds. ‘ Lime is good for acid soils; sulphur is good for basic soils; phosphorus is in the form of bone meal; potassium is in the form of greensand; kelp meal is in the form of meal (for micronutrients). Soil must be completely dry before adding additives, and only then should they be raked into smooth, ready-to-plant mounds. Fertilizer management may be improved by doing a soil test.
- If you haven’t sorted through your seeds and planted any inside, now is the time!
Know Ready your garden for spring
Perform a’spring cleaning’ in your garden.
A comprehensive clean-up of the garden is necessary after the winter months. With a rake, remove any weeds from the garden and borders, remove any dead branches or plants, and place them in your compost pile.
The optimum time to prune (trim down) your plants and old blooms is in the late winter, when the weather is milder. Encourage new buds by pruning trees early in the season. If you’re stuck, check out our guides on when to trim hydrangeas and roses for some pointers.
Consider investing in bulbs and seeds that will bloom in the summer
Summer-flowering bulbs that can be planted in the spring should be ordered now. Many flowers and seeds may be purchased now to be planted, including lilies, dahlias, and gladiolis. Some seeds, however, are better suited to being started inside before being moved into the ground, such as peas and beans.
Always examine the status of your seed collection if you’re a natural ‘greenfinger.’ There is no use in using them if they are mouldy or over their expiry date.
Instead of waiting until summer, you may buy plants that are now ready to go and will look gorgeous when they bloom in the spring.
Preparation of the soil is the third step
You should prepare your garden beds for spring planting by amending the soil. It’s possible that your soil has been compacted by frost throughout the winter. In this instance, stirring the soil with a spade or a tiller is necessary to loosen the soil. It’s recommended to dig 12 to 14 inches below the surface to agitate and loosen the soil.
After that, apply a new layer of mulch or compost to the bed. Lightly moisten the soil after raking it to aid in its settlement. Plants and flowers benefit from the correct quantity of nutrients found in organic mulch, as well as its ability to keep weeds at bay.
Begin cultivating your veggie garden.
Now is the ideal time to cultivate your own organic vegetables. Cool soil is ideal for hardy plants like potatoes, peas, and certain lettuce varieties. Remember that as your soil temperature reaches 42 degrees Fahrenheit, you may begin immediately sowing outdoors.. Carrots, arugula, spinach, leeks, and beets are some of the other vegetables you may plant. If you start growing these veggies now, they should be ready to eat by the beginning of summer.
Your fences need to be updated or repaired.
Our fences and borders may be damaged by the harsh winter weather, including rain, snow, and wind. To liven up the garden, now is a good time to undertake any repairs or perhaps a new coat of wood stain or paint. Pressure washing may be used to remove dirt and mildew off fences, depending on the kind of fence you have.
Additional security measures should be taken to protect your metal posts, gates, and trellises. Your fresh flowers and veggies may also be preyed upon by foxes, dogs or other predators.