Spring Gardening Tips

When people think about spring gardening it’s usually a bunch of chores. These chores can be fulfilling and make your garden look incredible. However, you may need a lot of topsoils to take care of your garden. To buy the best topsoil you can search for “topsoil near me” and go to the nearest store. Let’s check out a few spring gardening tips for the upcoming season:

Tips & Tricks

Check out your yard – Take a good long look at the trees in your yard and assess them. Take a note of the tree limbs that need to be cabled or removed. Limbs that are overhanging over important structures need special attention. You can even hire an arborist to maintain those large trees. After you assess the tall structures it’s time to come down to mid-level. 

Start by cutting down leaves and other foliage and throw them into the compost bin. Next, you need to rake the planted beds with bulbs before the arrival of foliage. After the soil warms you can refresh the mulch layer/ finally, you need to give a good cleaning wipe and mop all the hardscape areas of your garden. After those chores are done you are free to inspect the steps, fences, pathways, and concrete layers that need repair from the damage induced by freezing and thawing cycles. 

Give your tools some attention – You may not have stored your tools properly during the winter season. In that case, you need to tune up your tools and make sure they are in good shape for spring gardening chores. Check the pruners and sharpen or replace the blades or teeth if necessary. If your tools have wooden handles, clean them up, sand them down and apply linseed oil for protection. Check the tool inventory list and if you’re missing something order it as soon as possible.

Fix the gaps – Check the garden for bare spots and choose new plants to patch up those gaps. You can order trees, perennials, and shrubs for planting during the spring season. Visit the local nursery. They would be more than happy to special order exotic varieties you’re looking for. Even if they don’t have the plants in stock at the moment, they can get it for you within a couple of weeks or recommend a better alternative.

Pay attention to the lawn – Spring is a crucial time for paying attention to your turf. Check the mower and leaf blower and send them for servicing. If you have the necessary tools, you can even sharpen the mower blades yourself and lube the tools. Install fresh spark plugs if your mower is gas-powered. This makes the mower ready for taking care of the grass and maintaining its length. After that, you need to remove winter debris from your yard and check the turf for reseeding needs. 

Shrubs need to be pruned – If you have woody shrubs inspect them carefully and remove all damaged, diseased and dead branches to keep them healthy. For summer-blooming shrubs like hydrangea, roses, and butterfly bush you can trim and thin them out. Don’t do that for old bloomers. For cold-damaged shrubs, you can prune them after they resume spring growth and recover some strength.

Plant from bare-root – This can be very intimidating if you haven’t done it before. However, planting from bare-root isn’t rocket science. The plants come in a dormant state instead of a soil-filled container. That’s the only difference. It’s also better in many ways since you get to take advantage of the planting time. If you’ve got bare-root hostas, roses, daylilies, or even fruit trees, choose a cool and cloudy day to plant them.

Prepare new beds – Even if you have a spot that had an old plant bed you can completely replace it with a new bed without a lot of work. You simply need to dig out the soil, add some compaction and then mix in some compost or other appropriate amendments to kickstart the creation of a living breathing soil rich in nutrients. 

As soon as the soil can be worked you can clear the planting area and remove weeds, sods, and other debris. Spread a thick 4-inch layer of compost or rotted manure and cultivate it up to a depth of around 12 inches. Rake the new bed smooth before planting on it.

Plant container-grown plants – Apart from the scorching heat of midsummer, you can plant container-grown plants at any point during the growing season. Make sure that you water them well before they go into the ground and then water them again. You can choose from a vast variety of spring crops including poppies, sweet peas, and veggies like parsley, spinach, and lettuce.

Fertilize the soil – With the arrival of spring, your garden starts to wake up. A little fuel can help with the growth process and give plants the necessary nutrients they have been missing during the winter season. Around trees, you can add fish emulsion or balanced fertilizers. For acid-hungry shrubs like camellias, citrus or blueberries you can add pine-needle mulch. However, if you have perennials don’t fertilize them till, they resume active growth.   Clean baths and bird feeders – It’s time to refresh your feeders if you’ve made any feathered friends. Disinfect the feeders with a bleach solution and rinse them down with water. Make sure to air dry them thoroughly before you refill them with seeds, crumbs, and other food. Throughout the spring season, you’ll need to clean and disinfect the bird feeders. You also need to clean birdbaths if you have any.   

Conclusion

The above-mentioned spring planting tips can come in handy to make your garden more beautiful and add a lot of curb value. If you need to make new plant beds or some other thing where you need a lot of topsoil, you can buy it from the nearest gardening supply store. To find one near you, you can search for “topsoil near me”.