As springtime rolls around, the weather gets warmer, the ground thaws and the trees begin to bud. There’s no better time to get your hands dirty! The thawed soil is easier to work with, and with more hours of sunlight, spring is the most conducive season for growing a flourishing garden.
However, before you get to the actual planting, there are numerous steps you can take in the late winter or early spring to get your garden ready for the growing season. Below, we discuss the top spring garden planning measures to help you enjoy a maximum yield.
Clean Your Garden Beds
During the fall and winter, your garden often becomes a catch-all for fallen leaves and branches, weeds and plant debris. You’ll want to get rid of these as winter comes to a close to make way for the new plants. Wait for the soil to dry before heavy weeding and tilling to prevent compacting the soil and damaging its structure, texture and aeration properties.
Tidying your garden also involves cutting back old dead-growth herbaceous perennials and deciduous grasses. Throw the dead organic matter from your garden beds and borders into a compost pit — except for weeds, which may continue germinating and cause significant problems. You can either burn the weeds or put them in the trash.
You can set aside well-composted organic matter and mulch and recombine it with the soil later. Early spring is also the perfect time to remove hibernating pests from your garden, such as slugs, snails and aphids that often hide on the crowns of perennial plants.
Plan Your Garden Layout
Planning a spring garden layout in advance boosts aesthetics and functionality, whether you’re preparing a vegetable or flower garden. Additionally, it ensures your garden can serve as a pleasing backdrop for relaxing and hosting. Here’s how to plan a garden bed layout that allows multifunctional use of your space:
- Assess your yard and the gardening zone to determine the plants that will thrive there.
- Analyze your site to determine the spot that’ll provide your plants with ample sunlight, shade, moisture and nutrients.
- Sketch the garden area, considering the ideal plant spacing and how many of each you’ll grow.
- Plan how to edge your garden and what to use for landscape edging.
Exploring landscape edging ideas is crucial for planning your garden layout because it helps accentuate different parts while uniting the entire space. Here are some landscaping edging ideas:
- Take advantage of the natural edging method, and use the existing ground to distinguish between the lawn and the garden bed.
- Dig a trenched edge or v-shaped ditch to separate the lawn and the garden bed.
- Extend mulch by at least 2 inches for a natural-looking landscape edge.
- Use brick, soapstone, wood or plastic to create straight, precise edges.
Prune Plants
Pruning plants helps manage their size and encourages fruiting and flowering. It also removes damaged, diseased or crossing branches. All in all, pruning is essential to shaping the plant because it breaks bud dormancy and tells plants where to invest their energy.
Pruning is most effective when done right, so here are some spring pruning best practices:
- Use sharp and sterilized pruners or shears.
- Add some fertilizer to the soil to give the plants the nutrients they need to heal the pruning wounds.
- Prune fruit trees after the coldest temperatures have passed and before the buds come in.
Purchase and Start Seeds
The last few gloomy winter days provide the perfect opportunity for purchasing seeds. It’s the perfect time to explore seed and plant varieties that may prosper in the new season. Remember, it’s always best to buy seeds from a local grower because they often stock varieties that adapt well to your region’s environment and climate.
Purchasing seeds early allows ample time to prepare them for planting. You can start growing your plants inside to help ensure a longer growing season. To further maximize the potential of the seeds’ growth, you’ll need seed-starting trays, fertile soil, moisture and ample sunlight. At least a week before transplanting, place the potted seeds outside to acclimatize them to the outside conditions.
Create a Compost Pit
If you haven’t yet started a compost pit in your garden, early spring or late winter is an ideal time to do so. A compost pit provides an environmentally friendly place to dump all your organic waste and significantly reduces fertilizer costs. If you already have a compost pile, the spring is the right time to turn it over.
You can build your compost pit from scratch or buy a composting system suitable for the amount of organic matter you’ll throw in. Add grass clippings, kitchen scraps, yard trimmings, vegetable peelings and woody trimmings to your compost pile. Turn it at least once a month using a garden fork to keep it aerated.
Prepare the Soil
Garden soil often becomes compacted during the winter due to the ground’s moisture freezing. Toward the start of the spring, the frozen water thaws, loosening the surrounding soil and making it easier to work with.
There are various ways you can prepare your soil for plant growth in the spring. Here are some of the most essential steps to take:
- Till and turn over the soil using a fork or shovel to improve aeration, which is vital for robust plant growth.
- Test the soil’s pH and nutrient levels for information on the proper amendments and fertilizers to add.
- Add rich organic matter, such as manure or compost, to enhance soil structure and nutrient content and improve the soil’s moisture retention and aeration properties.
- Rake over the soil and water it lightly to release air pockets and create the desired airflow.
Check the Barriers
Barriers around your garden are important to ward off wildlife, keep unleashed pets away and protect your growing plants against other threats. Early spring is the best time to find and fix decay, weather damage and broken structures on your garden barriers. You should also take time to clean these barriers to remove dirt, debris and mildew.
If the damage to your barrier is beyond repair or you want to spruce up your garden, consider installing Forever Bamboo high-quality borders. Our bamboo border poles have a 1-inch diameter and come in varying lengths. They’re secured using a galvanized steel wire and can be assembled in both ascending and descending heights.
These borders are a beautiful, affordable and eco-friendly alternative to traditional wood borders. Depending on the project, they’re moderately easy to install, and they’re built to fit squarely around your garden paths, potted plants, trees and walkways.
Check Your Gardening Tools
Checking your gardening tools before springtime will significantly improve your gardening experience. It ensures you have all the necessary tools and equipment and that they’re in working condition.
Here’s how you can effectively check your gardening tools as you prepare for the growing season:
- Take inventory of all your tools toward the end of the winter to confirm which ones you have and which you still need.
- Make a plan to purchase, rent or borrow the missing tools.
- Clean your available tools using hot water, a strong detergent and a scouring pad to prevent the spread of bacteria, fungi and plant diseases.
- Sharpen your cutting and pruning tools to make them easier to work with and improve performance.
- Oil your tools to lubricate them for smooth functioning and to remove and prevent corrosion.
Choose Forever Bamboo for the Best Gardening Support
Preparing your garden for the growing season increases your chances of having a flourishing flower or vegetable garden all season long. Forever Bamboo can help you achieve your dream garden by supplying high-quality bamboo items, from affordable and eco-friendly bamboo and eucalyptus borders to strong and sturdy bamboo stakes that support your plants throughout the season.
To get more information about our selection, contact us today or explore our blog for more spring gardening tips!