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Spring is just around the corner; the days are getting longer, and the weather is warming up. It’s time for gardening enthusiasts to prepare their gardens for spring. Below are five tips for getting your garden ready for spring.

1.Clean up the Yard and Garden

The first step to getting your garden ready for spring is to remove the winter debris, leaves and dead grass from your lawn and garden and then loosen up the open patches of soil. Both these things will aerate the soil into the root zone. Next remove last year’s annuals and the dead foliage from the perennial plants, ornamental grasses, etc.  Place all of this debris in your compost bin.  Other clean up jobs include weeding (do not put in the compost pile) and scrubbing out the bird and butterfly boxes so that pests, mold, and bacteria won’t harm these garden friendly creatures

2. Inspect and Prune the Shrubs

Early spring pruning of shrubs and small trees will help maintain their good form and hardiness. Also, some shrubs only bloom on new branches, so pruning is needed to encourage the plant to send out new flowering branches.  Shrubs should also be inspected for winter burn or mites.

3. Begin Fertilization

Next to sun and water, fertilization is the most important thing in spring gardening.  To determine how much fertilizer the soil needs, it is worthwhile to get it tested. If the soil is already rich, just top with a bit of compost, manure or fertilizer.   When preparing a vegetable garden, the soil should be turned to a depth of 15 inches and then mixed with manure and compost,  which will supply valuable nutrients to the vegetables throughout the growing season.  Spring is also a good time to fertilize evergreens because they are actively growing at this time

4.  Check Mulch

Mulch is essential to spring gardening preparation because it helps the garden conserve water, cool the plant’s roots, feed the soil and smother weeds.  Mulch comes in two categories:  natural, such as straw, hay, compost, composted bark, or pine needles and synthetic, such as plastics and papers.

 5.  Start  Seedlings and Prepare Pots

Freshen up your old pots and containers by turning the soil and adding compost and a slow release fertilizer.  Or purchase and prepare a new self-watering planter that contains a built-in reservoir that draws water to the roots as needed for up to two weeks.  A little maintenance tip for the busy gardener.  And, finally, start collecting small containers to start your seedlings growing so they are ready to plant as soon as the last frost occurs

For more tips on getting your garden ready for spring visit the Falconcrest Homes Facebook page!