Spring is in the Air

Spring is in the air.  I’m still looking at a snow covered garden, but I know it’s near. The birds are singing in the morning.  I saw two sand hill cranes fly over today, and then actually got them on film later on! The cat thought she wanted to go outside today (it was only a fleeting thought, but still).  The temperature is supposed to hit the mid 50's this afternoon.  Yay, a virtual heat wave!

Sand Hill Crane

In Tennessee, my nephew started his tomatoes and pepper seeds.  He says it’s only a month until he can plant them outside. In Las Vegas another nephew has already picked kale, beet greens, and lettuce. 

Pepper and tomato seedlings

Onion seedlings

Purple Kale

Here in the north we’re not that close, but I’ve heard the red wing black birds are back.

 In fact, my sister in central NY saw a flock of a hundred or more land in her back yard yesterday. (They also have a foot or more of  snow still on the ground-but that’s beside the point). My money says the red wing black birds know that spring is almost here.

The snow drops and crocus are peaking out of the snow and there is nothing that can stop that joyous reaction when you see the first one hopefully budding out.  I uncovered a daffodil yesterday that was covered with wet leaves.  Within hours it was pushing eagerly out of the ground.

Last week end was the beginning of daylight savings time; another indication that spring is on its way. So that means it’s time to start thinking about spring clean up. There are many things that you can do now to prepare for spring. (We could finally get to our Christmas lights yesterday that were strung on some of the bushes. The ice was melted enough that we could remove them without damaging our bushes!) 

If you are crazy to get outside and do something, collect your gardening tools and look at them critically.  Wash them if necessary. Sand the rough spots off any wooden handles and give them a new coat of polyurethane or paint.  Sharpen any cutting tools and tighten any screws and bolts. When spring finally arrives you will be all ready to go with clean fresh tools.  Now do the same with all your empty pots and containers.  (My husband is actually outside washing the car right now...I had suggested he do my container pots!)

When the snow does finally disappear and the ground is firm enough to walk on you can rake off any heavy layers of leaves that have blown into corners of your garden and start to remove some of the protective dirt or mulch that you may have put around your roses buses and other tender perennials.

Cut down the dead grasses and other perennial stalks that you left standing throughout the winter. Check out the bushes in your yard. Remove any broken or obviously dead stems. Do not trim spring blooming bushes until after they bloom though because many of them bloom on year old branches and if you trim them now they won’t flower.

Rake the grass and using a small digger remove any big obvious weeds that you can find.  This is a great time to weed in your garden, too.  Weeds grow faster than your perennials at this time of year and you can easily see them and get rid of them.  You can also remove grass that may be growing close to the crowns of your perennials.

Still using your digger, gently loosen up the soil around the crowns of your plants and mix in a handful of mulch and a small amount of granular slow release fertilizer.

Look at your perennials carefully. Now is the time to divide some of them if it is needed. Here are a few generalities to help you decide what you can or should divide now.  If the center of the plant has died out, it needs dividing.

Some perennials can go for several years before they need dividing, but eventually you might realize that they don’t flower as well any more. That’s when they need dividing. Summer or fall blooming plants should be divided now when they first start to show green growth.

Spring blooming perennials are generally divided after they bloom, but if it is all ready getting quite warm where you live, this task can be postponed until late August or early September when the weather is a little cooler. In general try to do your dividing about a month before your weather gets either very hot or very cold.

Once you have replanted or given away your extra plants, it’s time to add a new layer of mulch to your garden, but if you know that you have a lot of self-reseeders in your garden be careful about adding too much. If it’s not an issue for you, add a three to four inch layer of mulch any where there is bare earth showing.

If you have ordered any plants from catalogs, they will probably be arriving soon.  Don’t be surprised if they come as bare roots. This is common and now is when they should be planted.  If directions came with them follow them carefully.  Inspect your plants carefully. They should be firm and healthy looking.  If they are soggy, or smell bad they may have rotted and won’t make it. If there are any black, brittle parts these are probably dried up and won’t grow either.  If there is just a few of these don’t worry, but in any case, the first thing you should do is rehydrate your roots in a bucket of warm water for a few hours. Keep them moist until you can plant them and then water well again. Continue to water regularly until you see green starting to emerge from the ground. Then treat them like any other perennials in your garden.

So now your early spring chores are finished (Hopefully, it's not June by now) relax for a little bit and enjoy watching your plants start to reach out for the sun.