Get Your Garden Ready For Spring

In most areas, we are saying goodbye to snow and frozen weather, and welcoming in spring. Warmer weather is coming our way, and we couldn’t be any more excited about it. Not only is spring a chance for us to finally get outside after being cooped up all winter long, but we’re now envisioning our spring garden preparations. Visions of garden boxes overflowing with daisies, and the taste of homegrown berries are ripe in our mouths. Are you ready to get your garden ready for spring?

Clean out your garden beds

One of your first steps of garden prep, should be to clean out your yard and garden spaces. During fall and winter, leaves and debris make their way into your garden, getting trodden down by heavy snowfall. If left there, it will make it hard for your plants to make their way to the surface, trying to push through all of this debris and trash. Carefully pick out the debris, and then use a small, plastic rake to break up the soil and remove any smaller pieces covering your soil that you may have missed.

Prune back trees and shrubs

During the colder months, it’s natural to notice that some of your plants, especially trees and shrubs, have limbs that didn’t quite make it through the harsh weather. The best thing to do for these plants, is to prune them back to encourage new growth once the weather warms up. This is especially important for trees that are going to bear fruit.

Lay down fertilizers

To have a bountiful garden this year, you want to make sure that the soil is enriched and full of the minerals your plants will need. While you are waiting for the weather to be predictable enough to start planting, you can prepare by laying down mulch and fertilizers, to protect plants and give it plenty of time to soak into the ground beneath it.

This year is a great time to start a compost pile in your yard. It is so beneficial to the health of your soil, which will mean bigger and better plants will grow from the soil. Compost is also really important for the ecosystem of local insects. Creating a compost heap is an incredibly simple process. Start by saving up food waste, such as egg shells and bits of fruits and veggies. You’ll want to combine this in a heap outside with small pieces of wood, grass clippings, shredded newspaper and linen, and other items to help it decompose most efficiently. Here’s a great article that goes more into depth on how to create your own compost heap.

De-winterize your sprinkler system

If you have a large garden, or even just a lawn, you should’ve winterized your sprinkler system before your pipes had a chance to freeze over the winter. Now, it’s time to de-winterize your sprinkler system so it’s ready to use and set up for your new garden.

Remove plants that died during winter

The circle of life is that simply, some of your plants will die. Many plants will have to be replanted every single year, while others will naturally come back year after year. To make room for the new plants in your garden, you should carefully remove all of the plants that died over the winter months. This includes deheading the plants that will grow back on their own, but have bits that died over the course of the last year.