Spring Checklist
With the longer days, we all tend to want to spend more time outdoors. Whether you are home most days, or are a “Weekend Warrior”, this list of garden and landscape activities will help the transition into spring seem easy and simple.
Prune! Get those blades sharpened and head out to your landscape. Many shrubs, perennials, ornamental grasses and trees could benefit from some dormant pruning. Most perennials can be pruned to the ground because the new growth will emerge from the root system. Ornamental grasses are the same. Shrubs and trees can be a bit more specific as to how they like to be pruned, so it is always good to do your research and ask the professionals on how and what to prune.
Spring Cleaning – Outside. If you haven’t already, cleaning off your garden beds from last year’s planting is a great thing to do before the weather really starts to stay nice. We highly encourage (if you can stand it) to wait until spring to clean off your garden beds to help beneficial insects overwinter. Ladybugs, praying mantis, and many types of bees are all great for our garden plants and they overwinter in all of the dead plant material. Same goes for your containers as well. If you are like me you may have put some cut evergreen branches in your containers for the holiday season. These can be loaded up with all of your pruning brush. You may be able to save some of the soil from last year, but I would recommend removing at least the top half of it from your containers and add new potting soil when you plant them this spring.
De-Christmas. Yes, I mean take down any remaining Christmas decorations! If you were ambitious and took them down when we had some nice days in January, good for you! One less thing to do now, but for those of us who were not as ambitious, it’s time to put away that cute penguin that is holding a Merry Christmas sign until next season.
Turn the compost pile.
Plan your vegetable garden on paper, making sure to utilize every inch of space.
Stop by your local garden center and take a walk through their greenhouses and nursery. New items will start to arrive often. Never hurts to start your plan for your landscape and garden early.
