Don’t Know What To Do this Spring?

How About Spring Gardening?

By: Guest Contributor, Aby League, ENN.com

Photo by Will Collette

Spring signals the start of a new life. This is the season for birds to chirp happily in the air greeting every living being, for flowers to start blooming and to grace the world with their beauty and fragrance.

The spring season is when nature calls out to people to get closer to sceneries and greeneries. There may be a lot of outdoor activities to do at the first day of spring but why not start at your very own backyard.  Gardening should be at the top of everyone’s spring activities.

It’s nice to wake up every morning with a beautiful garden to enjoy the spring season to its fullest. But gardening should not be taken lightly, it’s a good way to exercise and relieve stress and it is fulfilling to see the results of your labor.

Fully pumped up with the idea of spring gardening but don’t know how to start? Well then, why don’t you take a look at these early spring chores that will definitely give your garden a jump start?

Clean Up Your Yard

Spring gardening does not actually start at the very first day of spring. It starts even before spring season begins. Basically you start cleaning your yard to make way for your new plants and check. Tidy up flower beds and lawns by raking leaves and getting rid of debris. The leaves and debris can be put in a compost pile and combined this with perennial foliage.

Structures in your garden such as fences, decks, and gazebos for insect infestations or rotting and get them fixed immediately. This is also a good time to start weeding since the weeds are still young and their roots are still weak for easier pulling. You can also start surveying for possible pest problems. 

Once you have detected pests like a hornet’s nest or termite tunnel, take the proper measures in getting rid of them. Lastly, waterways should be checked. Make sure that all waterways are cleared from debris or any kind of blockage for the next spring. This is also the time to install water butts if you want. These should be placed under downpipes to gather all possible rainfall.

Make a Compost Pile

A compost pile or a compost bin is the combination of all the debris and the leaves that you got from cleaning. Cut branches shorter to speed up decomposition with grass clippings, weeds, perennial foliage, vegetable peelings, and paper and combine it with water. 

Keep on turning your compost regularly every time you add more to the pile before the start of spring. Continue doing this for the rest of the season so that you will have a compost pile for the next spring as well. EDITOR'S NOTE: even better, go over to the Worm Ladies of Charlestown for some non-invasive red wigglers and they'll produce more compost even quicker.

Get Seeds and Tools

Once you are done cleaning up your yard and visualizing your spring garden, it’s time to hit the net and search for spring garden ideas. Look for the plants that you want in your garden and the tools that you will need. You can look at blogs for tips and join forums to share ideas. Look for flowering bushes for spring. You might want to check out small flowering shrubs for your front lawn and flowering trees for your backyard or front yard.

Make sure that the plants that you will buy are ideal for spring gardening. You can also start sowing seeds that need a longer season like Geraniums and Begonias for early spring gardening. Early planting can also be done inside. Start in pots and just transfer them outside once the soil is already workable. But you can still stick with fast growing plants like Gold Forsythia, Tri Color Willow, and Rose Glow Barberry. 

As for the tools, check the tools that you have and note the ones that need some tuning and the ones that you are missing. Most importantly check your mower. Get the blades sharpen, have it tuned if needed, and refill its oil tank.

Start Planting

Choose a cloudy day to start planting. Before planting your seeds, make sure that you have already fertilized your soil. Sun loving shrubs are ideal for the spring season like Double Pink Knockouts, White Out Rose, Burning Brush, and Heavenly Bamboo Nandina for a colorful garden and some Fragrant Tea Olive, Sky pencil Holly, and Dwarf English Boxwood for some green to balance out the color. You can also choose to plant flowering trees that are ideal for spring like Eastern Redbud, Flowering Dogwood, and Rhododendron.

Now you can start with these spring gardening tips and enjoy the spring season. If you do such a good job with it, there might be a blue ribbon waiting for you.

About the Author: Aby League is a researcher. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology and is currently taking her Master’s while working as a freelance writer and researcher. She is also an innovator and technology enthusiast. On top of all that, she’s a mother of two lovely kids and she also runs the blog AboutPossibilities.com.