Com’on let’s get our hands dirty.

A few days of warm weather and we get excited to plant our spring flowers. Make it a family affair, get outside and work together to prep your gardens for months of beautiful flowers.

Start by removing leaves and other debris from flower beds and borders. You can cut back the old dead growth of ornamental grasses and herbaceous perennials now. By leaving them all winter and cutting them back in early spring, you are being wildlife-friendly, thank you.

Clear borders and beds back to bare soil. Put the dead organic matter you’ve cleared away into your compost pile to break down. Remove any weeds. Organic Turf Trade has flower-friendly and vegetable garden herbicide options. If you hand-pick weeds, do not compost weeds as the seeds will germinate and you will have weeds in your gardens later. And don’t forget to apply weed killer to perennial weeds on your sidewalks, driveway borders, and patio pavers.

Work in a general-purpose fertilizer, such as a 10-10-10, or an organic chicken manure fertilizer would work if you wanted an organic option. Look out for signs of insects and diseases, early prevention is easier than curing an infestation. Some pests like aphids, snails and slugs hibernate in the crown of your perennials or just beneath the soil in your gardens.

Clean and sharpen your garden tools. Or if it’s time for some new ones give Organic Turf Trade a call or come see us. Maintaining your garden tools will help them last longer, saving you money and help you prevent the spread of disease. Dirty and dull tools cause wounds on your plants allowing bacteria and fungi easy access.

Some other Spring Prep Tips

• Divide established perennial plants, like Hosta, Day Lily, phlox, etc. to improve vigor and create new plants. Early spring is also a good time to transplant them to other parts of your yard.
• IF you want to relocate a tree or shrub, now is also the time before it gets too warm or dry.
• Feed trees, shrubs, and hedges with a balanced, slow-release fertilizer by lightly forking it into the soil surface. Roses are very hungry plants, need to be fed early in the spring, and will greatly benefit from fertilizer as they start to grow.
• For years of beautiful yellow, full bushes, prune Forsythia as soon as they have finished flowering.
• Continue to remove faded flowers from winter pansies to stop them setting seed. This will encourage flushes of new flowers throughout the spring.
• Deadhead daffodils and tulips as the flowers finish, but leave foliage intact, allowing it to die back naturally.
• Apply a thin layer of mulch around your perennials and biennial plants, trees and shrubs before the hot weather arrives. Make sure mulch does not touch the trunk of the tree, only a small thin layer is needed around the tree base.

Gardening is fun and yields beautiful results you can enjoy spring, summer, and fall. Let us know how we can help.