Now that the weather is finally turning to our favour and we are all going a little stir crazy from both the winter and our self imposed isolation due to COVID19; I thought I’d share a little to do list to prep our gardens for this coming summer.
First step is to clean up the flower beds - remove old plant debris, fallen branches, old foliage, ornamental grasses, and annual plants that didn’t get removed last year. Good hygiene in your garden beds will help to keep disease and pests at a bay.
Also a good time to clean out any bird baths with a mixture of 1 part bleach to 5 parts water. This will help kill any insect eggs or bacteria’s left.
If you have ponds - great time to remove the leaf debris from the sides and bottom with a skimmer
Spring is a good time to prune some kinds of woody shrubs and trees.
Start by pruning out anything that has been broken or damaged by winter ice, snow and cold. Remove dead wood, too.
Follow the general rule that any flowering summer shrubs which bloom on new wood (this year’s growth) can be trimmed in spring.
DO NOT prune early flowering shrubs and those that bloom on old wood (last year’s stems) like azalea, forsythia, lilac in the spring. If you do, you’ll risk cutting off this year’s flower buds. You might not be able to see them, but they are there, so resist the urge to prune.
5. You can also think about transplanting shrubs and dividing any perennials that are just starting to pop up. Good rule to follow is that if the plant blooms in the summer or fall - transplant in the spring, if it blooms in the spring then wait until the fall to divide/transplant. This way you won’t be interrupting its blooming cycle.
6. If you have peonies -, delphiniums or any other plant that requires support - now is a great time to put in the support - its a lot easier when there are no leaves to fight with.
7. If you plan on doing a vegetable garden, now is a great time to get your seeds started & organized.
Well, I think that should keep you busy for a little while now - have fun and happy gardening!