Starting Spring Planting
Spring Is Here! The first signs of warmer weather are beginning to appear as snow is melting and the days are getting longer. The end of March and the beginning of April are certainly the first days of spring, though in many places it's still a little too cold to start planting flowers, vegetables, and all the other plants in your garden. But that doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t start getting ready for the coming warm weather and the days where you’ll start planting and taking care of your garden. So here’s a few reminders as you get ready for the spring and summer to kick into gear.
Setting The Stage
Organization is key when you're starting to prepare for the upcoming planting season in the spring and summer, so the first place to start isn’t outside, it’s in your garden shed or garage. After a long winter your tools, and any stored gardening implements are likely there in a heap.
Organizing For Efficiency
Organizing this space allows you to make your spring planting adventure as efficient as possible while limiting the confusion and frustration that can come with dealing with so many different things at once. Make sure to clean out all the dirt and mud that have built up in the shed. Your shed space can be a clean space to preserve your tools and other pots and gardening implements and increase their lifespan.
The Right Tools For The Job
The next step will be to check your tools. How many times have each one of us looked at a broken or sub-optimal tool and thought to ourselves we should certainly replace the tool for the next summer and then don’t see the tool again until March? So let’s get ahead of this problem and be ready to replace tools before we are planting and realize this tool has worn out all its usefulness. Make sure your tools are clean and still functional to make sure the transition to springtime planting goes as smoothly as possible.
Pots & Planters
The next step will be to check any pots or planters you winterized in the shed or garage. Some of these will likely need to be cleaned before you put them out for the summer in the front of your home or garden so make sure you’ve relieved them of any water or dirt stains from the previous gardening season. Next make sure they are intact and undamaged before you begin planting in them again.
Make sure that you've relieved them of any water or dirt stains
Checking The Drip Tray
The next step should be to assess whether each pot or planter has a drip tray and making sure these trays are still in good shape and will be ready for use during the next several months. Check for cracking or heavy wear on these drip trays to prevent leakage that could ruin certain spaces around your home.
Cleaning Up The Garden
The next step will be to approach the garden and clean it up after last year’s growing season and the winter. Go through and remove all old growth that has piled up and died during the cold months. Then you can begin to test the soil and check that it is full of the required nutrients to yield a successful harvest during the coming season. If the soil has been depleted of nutrients, make sure to add some fertilizer or compost to enrich the soil and help your plants before they are even in the ground.
Test the soil and check that it is full of the required nutrients
Preparing Perennials
Next you can prune any perennial plants which have dead limbs or vines from the winter, making sure they are prepared for the spring. Take the time to really clean out your garden from the previous year and you will be that much more prepared for this year.
Now that you have gone through your garden and prepared for the spring season ahead you can go ahead and start planting. Your garden is ready to provide your family with plenty of color, and activity for the entire summer. Happy Gardening!