Gardening

Even before winter begins to loosen her icy cold grip on my home garden I am already thinking about getting ready for spring and out of this house and into my gardens once again. I don’t care much for those freezing cold temps but I can’t usually wait for the warmer temperatures, maybe it’s cabin fever but there are always things we can do in the garden, even though winter may not be done with us.

Last year, after the snow and ice storms we had a lot of debris to clean up that had covered our yard. I was out there working in my yard and gardens but early enough that the ground was still plenty frozen so I wasn’t compacting the dirt even more. Actually this was a great time to start raking up the twigs and garbage that has blown into my yard over the winter. It’s much tougher if I wait until the ground thaws as it tends to hold water for a few weeks while thawing.

As the snow finally disappears I can see the annuals that were left through the winter. I like to get them pulled out and into our compost bin. The fact they aren’t coming back, as annuals, means I can clean them and get ready for new flowers. This is also a great time to cut back any perennials that I missed before winter busted in on us last fall.

Any plants you have the only bloom when there are new branches need to be cut back as well. I don’t like cutting back plants at this time unless I’m pretty sure the last big frost has hit, so normally I leave these for later. There are some plants that form their buds in the fall so if you happen to start pruning those you may have no blossoms. Best to wait until they start to show life.

It might still be a bit early to split plant roots but it’s a good time to plan it so that when the ground is thawed you can get it done quickly. I like to look around the home gardens to an idea of how much mulch as well as compost I will need.

I noticed through the winter that we have a trellis which was damaged during an ice storm. This is the perfect time to fix it up before it’s covered with new growth. Besides when the warmer months are here you don’t want to be doing that stuff as there is plenty to do tending your gardens. So use this time to catch up on repair work and maybe some painting.

Taking advantage of the early spring days can help you get your home garden in top shape for the warmer months for more enjoyable home gardening. Plus it’s a great way for you to get outdoors in the fresh air!