How To Get Your Garden Ready

It’s hard to not catch spring fever this time of year! Some plants began budding out as early as mid-February, and that was certainly a breath of fresh air. By now, cherry trees are flowering, yellow daffodils have shown their bright faces, saucer or tulip magnolias displayed pastel flowers before they even leafed out and yellow forsythia hedges wave hello in the breeze. Here are a few tips to get your garden ready for the season, and prep it for what’s to come (hint: hot temperatures).

Time to Prune!

The timing is right to prune overgrown shrubs (not known for their flowers) that held on to their leaves all winter. Think of boxwoods, ligustrum, aucuba and pittosporum. The rule of pruning is to only remove about one-third of the plant at a time, so resizing drastically could take two or three seasons. Always make angled cuts with sharp pruners, and then cut back to another stem or ‘growth point’ rather than just cutting in the middle of a limb.

Don’t get too carried away with those trimmers and loppers! Anything that is known for spring and summer flowers should only be pruned after blooming. It’s remarkable how many months it takes a plant to produce and hold on to buds that then anxiously open when given the right environmental cues, like soil temperature, air temperature and day length. Flower buds are often unknowingly removed when a spring and summer blooming plant is pruned too soon.

Clean Up and Spruce Up

Landscapes can quickly and easily be spruced up by adding fresh mulch, like chips, pine bark nuggets or pine straw. In my opinion, one is no better than the other. It often comes down to cost and aesthetic preference. When put down in a 2- to 3-inch-deep layer, all of these serve their purposes of helping the soil around the plant retain moisture and keep weeds out.

And speaking of weeds, prevention is the best medicine when it comes to a healthy, lush lawn. Homeowners should always prioritize the application of a pre-emergence herbicide at least twice per year. This granular application must be timed right so as to kill unwanted weed seeds as they begin to germinate in the soil. Proper timing to prevent summer weeds is generally from mid-February to mid-March in our area. And to get ahead of annoying winter weeds like poa annua (or annual meadow grass), an application of pre-emergence in late August to mid-September is just right.

Plant New Things

Who doesn’t love having their own peppers, tomatoes and squash all summer long?! Spring is a great time to plant a vegetable garden. Good soil and plenty of sunshine are the two most important factors for a garden to succeed. If there is room, I recommend planting a few extra plants in case some are lost for whatever reason. 

Sow These Thoughts

Think about spacing when planting, considering how large the plants can grow. Make a plan to keep them watered sufficiently through the summer. Consistent water is important throughout the growing season, but pay close attention to not letting new plantings dry out. Establishment is when steady water is most important.

Weed Out Two Common Mistakes

• Not keeping up and letting weeds take over

• Pulling them all and leaving an area of bare dirt

Depending on the size of the area with weeds, mowing, mulching, hand-pulling and spot treating with an herbicide spray are all approaches that work well in concert with one another. Once they’re all taken care of, don’t leave soil bare, lest it wash away or become too dry. Try to plant something there—a perennial plant perhaps! The roots of a new plant work to hold the soil in place. At the very least, cover the dirt with mulch so it doesn’t erode away.

There are weed prevention products that are labeled safe for use in garden beds and vegetable beds, too. If you’re working with herbicides and pesticides, make it a priority to always read the label before use.

Ashley Frasca is the host of WSB’s “Green and Growing” radio show, on every Saturday morning from 6-9am on 95.5 WSB and on Facebook. She uses her newfound planting knowledge to answer listener questions and learn for herself. Lucky for us, she shares a little bit of what she’s learned, so that we can get our hands dirty in the garden, too. Follow along all year for more of her tips and tricks!
@greenandgrowingwsb, @ashleyfrascawsb