The days are gradually getting warmer, the sun is out a bit longer and it all means one thing – Spring is slowly but surely approaching. For most vegetable gardeners, it may still be a few weeks before our vegetables can be started in the garden, but there are some gardening things that we should do now – some spring garden prep – during this “calm before the storm.”
I spend a lot of time – now – walking around my property to observe the overall structure of my trees, plants, and shrubs. This is especially important, for maintaining my trees & shrubs with pruning. This post-winter/pre-spring period is the perfect time to prune deciduous trees and shrubs for health and beauty. Plants are still in dormancy, so the cuts don’t stimulate new growth.
First thing first: I don’t like to selectively prune out more than one-third of a tree or shrub at one time. In other words, the material I remove overall is one third or less of the plant. Taking more than that – unless I’m removing dead material – could be too stressful for the plant.
Pruning in late winter or early spring will showcase trees and shrubs in their best light, all through the year. Taking time to look at my plants and trees before they’ve leafed out is the best time to check for any inward growth which needs to be cleaned out. Promote outward-growing branches to allow air flow and light to reach the center-most areas of your plant. I also look for crossing or parallel tree branches, which should be removed.
This time of year, I look at my trees and shrubs as art pieces, pruning for form and shape. Pruning is part art as well as part science. If your plant looks good now, without foliage, it will look great once it is in full leaf and bloom.
First thing first: I don’t like to selectively prune out more than one-third of a tree or shrub at one time. In other words, the material I remove overall is one third or less of the plant. Taking more than that – unless I’m removing dead material – could be too stressful for the plant.
Pruning in late winter or early spring will showcase trees and shrubs in their best light, all through the year. Taking time to look at my plants and trees before they’ve leafed out is the best time to check for any inward growth which needs to be cleaned out. Promote outward-growing branches to allow air flow and light to reach the center-most areas of your plant. I also look for crossing or parallel tree branches, which should be removed.
This time of year, I look at my trees and shrubs as art pieces, pruning for form and shape. Pruning is part art as well as part science. If your plant looks good now, without foliage, it will look great once it is in full leaf and bloom.
If your trees look like those above then I suggest you contact your local extension office for help! Trees like those above may well recover from this butchery but they are now VERY open to the onset of stress and disease.
I recommend Fall as the best time to plant or transplant, but this time of year is your next best option. The cooler weather allows plants the most time to spread those roots and get comfortable in their new environment before the stressors of summer heat.
Planting trees and shrubs in fall and winter offer the maximum amount of time for them to establish before the stresses of summer. If there is a plant you wanted to move or transplant last season but didn’t get around to it, now is your chance to dig it up and introduce it to a new location. As always when planting, be sure to water everything in well to remove air pockets, settle the soil around the roots, and keep the soil moist.
This is the perfect time to get that mulch down too. A key benefit to mulch is weed suppression, so setting up that mulch barrier now will save you weeding time during the growing season. If your beds aren’t planted tightly enough to prevent the sun from reaching the soil or if you have any open areas, a 2” (or deeper) layer of mulch will block the sun from germinating those weed seeds. Adding mulch around trees and shrubs helps reduce weeds and retain moisture in the soil. Mulch also reduces soil erosion from heavy rains and will insulate soil from summer heat – which helps keep the soil moist and reduces the need for supplemental watering.
This time of year, it’s also much easier to get underneath your plants to spread that mulch. I recommend spreading up to within a couple of inches of the base of the plant. It’s best not to push the mulch up along the trunk, as that can create an easier path for pests and disease.
Planting trees and shrubs in fall and winter offer the maximum amount of time for them to establish before the stresses of summer. If there is a plant you wanted to move or transplant last season but didn’t get around to it, now is your chance to dig it up and introduce it to a new location. As always when planting, be sure to water everything in well to remove air pockets, settle the soil around the roots, and keep the soil moist.
This is the perfect time to get that mulch down too. A key benefit to mulch is weed suppression, so setting up that mulch barrier now will save you weeding time during the growing season. If your beds aren’t planted tightly enough to prevent the sun from reaching the soil or if you have any open areas, a 2” (or deeper) layer of mulch will block the sun from germinating those weed seeds. Adding mulch around trees and shrubs helps reduce weeds and retain moisture in the soil. Mulch also reduces soil erosion from heavy rains and will insulate soil from summer heat – which helps keep the soil moist and reduces the need for supplemental watering.
This time of year, it’s also much easier to get underneath your plants to spread that mulch. I recommend spreading up to within a couple of inches of the base of the plant. It’s best not to push the mulch up along the trunk, as that can create an easier path for pests and disease.
Every February, after the Superbowl, I clear out and clean up my raised garden beds. We live in a part of the country that allows us to grow crops all year round. This time of year, I’m clearing out the remains of my cool season crops and preparing for my warm season varieties. I take out the old growth and add it to my compost pile. I’ll rake out most of the debris. In other words, I’m getting the beds ready to amend their soil before planting.
I amend my soil with compost twice each year. The first time is typically in February to plant my new seedlings and the second time is in fall when I’m clearing out and cleaning up my summer crops to prepare planting for my cool season vegetables.
I’ll be adding compost a few weeks before I will be planting. This allows time for the soil microbes and all the other beneficial organisms to work with the biology already at work in my beds. To amend my soil, I add about one inch of compost to the surface of all my raised beds and a bit more to my in-ground beds. I may turn that compost into the existing soil slightly, but I usually just let the compost sit on top.
I have really healthy soil, and there is a lot of good things going on under the surface already. So, I don’t want to disturb that. I can let the microbes work that new compost in on their own. When I’m improving my soil in fall, I use up all the compost I’ve built up over the spring and summer. I continue to make new compost throughout the winter, and I use that compost now.
Think of your garden beds like a bank account. Your plants are making soil withdrawals, so you need to be making soil health deposits.
Another important thing this time of year is to remember that your garden tools need to be in top condition to help you be successful throughout the season. Clean off any rust, grime, and residue from your pruners, the blades on shovels, etc. Most good pruners are made with the ability to buy and install replacement parts or – at a minimum – sharpen the blade. Pruning with a dull blade is the worst thing you can do to your plants. Rather than a clean cut, which heals quickly and promotes growth, you will end up with a tear or a wound and create the opportunity for disease.
Use some steel wool and some oil to sharpen your shovels, so that they are at the ready for this season. For those tools with a wooden handle, I recommend a light sanding with fine-grit sandpaper. Run the sandpaper up the handle a bit, and then, rub a little linseed oil into the wood. Tools work best when they’re in top condition. An off-season tune-up of all your tools will serve you well when they’re called back into service. I’m a frugal gardener, but I also believe you get what you pay for. Invest in quality tools and invest the time to care for them properly. They will last you a lifetime.
I amend my soil with compost twice each year. The first time is typically in February to plant my new seedlings and the second time is in fall when I’m clearing out and cleaning up my summer crops to prepare planting for my cool season vegetables.
I’ll be adding compost a few weeks before I will be planting. This allows time for the soil microbes and all the other beneficial organisms to work with the biology already at work in my beds. To amend my soil, I add about one inch of compost to the surface of all my raised beds and a bit more to my in-ground beds. I may turn that compost into the existing soil slightly, but I usually just let the compost sit on top.
I have really healthy soil, and there is a lot of good things going on under the surface already. So, I don’t want to disturb that. I can let the microbes work that new compost in on their own. When I’m improving my soil in fall, I use up all the compost I’ve built up over the spring and summer. I continue to make new compost throughout the winter, and I use that compost now.
Think of your garden beds like a bank account. Your plants are making soil withdrawals, so you need to be making soil health deposits.
Another important thing this time of year is to remember that your garden tools need to be in top condition to help you be successful throughout the season. Clean off any rust, grime, and residue from your pruners, the blades on shovels, etc. Most good pruners are made with the ability to buy and install replacement parts or – at a minimum – sharpen the blade. Pruning with a dull blade is the worst thing you can do to your plants. Rather than a clean cut, which heals quickly and promotes growth, you will end up with a tear or a wound and create the opportunity for disease.
Use some steel wool and some oil to sharpen your shovels, so that they are at the ready for this season. For those tools with a wooden handle, I recommend a light sanding with fine-grit sandpaper. Run the sandpaper up the handle a bit, and then, rub a little linseed oil into the wood. Tools work best when they’re in top condition. An off-season tune-up of all your tools will serve you well when they’re called back into service. I’m a frugal gardener, but I also believe you get what you pay for. Invest in quality tools and invest the time to care for them properly. They will last you a lifetime.
Don’t forget to clean up that tool shed too. Sometimes things don’t always make it back to home base when you are really busy during the growing season. This is the time to put everything back in its place.
It may seem like a lot but investing some time now in garden prep helps ensure your garden can provide a healthy home for your crops come spring. The payoff is worth it!
Happy Gardening!!
It may seem like a lot but investing some time now in garden prep helps ensure your garden can provide a healthy home for your crops come spring. The payoff is worth it!
Happy Gardening!!
RSS Feed
