Your Garden Is Waking Up!

We’ve spent our winter musing over seed catalogues and gardening magazines daydreaming of warmer days, blossoming flowers, and hands immersed in the earth.  Now the snow has melted (for now), daffodils are creeping ever upward, and your lawn is greening up.  It’s time to get dirty!  Here’s a quick checklist for your early spring gardening tasks:

  • Sharpen and clean your tools.  If you didn’t do this last fall (tsk, tsk) then now is a great time to check this task off your list.
  • Remove winter debris from your lawn and perennial beds.  If the debris is well composted (leaves) then work them into the top layer of your soil.
  • Prune broken or dead branches from your fruit trees before the buds break into bloom.
  • Water shrubs and trees if the weather is warm and dry.  Remember, long slow infrequent watering is best especially if you are watering your lawn.  You want to encourage those roots to grow deep into the soil.
  • Cut back your ornamental grasses before fresh growth emerges.
  • Start seeds indoors.  Learn more about seed starting here.
  • Plan your landscape!  Practice your design skills by sketching the footprint of your home to scale on graph paper and then add key features such as a patio, a kid’s play area, the trampoline pad, the fire pit, the chicken coop…..whether you are just filling in bare spots or planning an entire landscape, it is never too early to start planning.  Plus it’s so fun!

These warm days make us want to get outside and plant something, but some things are better done later than now.  April is a time for strategic action and a little restraint.  Don’t plant until at least mid-May, and later if you can calm the chomping-at-the-bit gardener inside of you.  As always, if you would like some help with your spring clean or your landscape design you can always reach me here.  I love to help others manifest their dream garden!