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House and Garden Articles (25)

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Most recent posting below. See other articles in the column to the right.

Pre-Season Gardening Tips

March 26, 2008

Starting your gardening year off right is very important. The following tips are an excellent way to lay the foundation for a great garden.

Leaf Disposal

Get started on spring garden cleanup. Rake and dispose of leaves, pull obvious weeds, and cut back any perennials still standing, as well as ornamental grasses.

Tool Care

Spruce up and sharpen hand tools and power tools. Also, sharpen your mower blade, something you should do three or four times a year. Check oil levels and the filter. Some filters need to be replaced, others cleaned.

Planting Bare-Root Trees, Shrubs and Roses

Plant bare-root trees and shrubs as well as bare-root roses as soon as the ground has softened.

Start Seeds Indoors

Start seeds indoors, if you like, early this month for warm-season annuals, such as tomatoes, marigolds, peppers, cosmos, impatiens, salvia, basil, and others. Otherwise, wait until all chances of freezing temperatures have passed and plant outdoors. Cut back any perennials that are still standing, as well as ornamental grasses. Their tough stalks can be hard to cut even with long-handled loppers. A power hedge trimmer, however, makes short work of them.

Pruning Trees and Shrubs

Prune nearly all trees and shrubs except those that bloom in the spring. (You'll trim off the developing flowers!) Prune evergreens any time from now until late summer. (Don't prune later than that or you'll prompt new, tender growth that will get zapped by winter's cold.)

Plant pots, windowboxes, and containers with cool-season flowers that can withstand frost and even snow. Pansies are a favorite. Or, tuck in pots of purchased forced spring-bulbs, such as tulips or daffodils to brighten these spots.

Prune Roses

Prune roses this month or next once signs of growth are well underway - when the red leaf buds have started to swell and are just barely starting to unfurl.

Plant cool-season crops and flowers almost as soon as you can easily work the ground. Plant seeds of radishes, peas, sweet peas, lettuces, and other greens. Plant seedlings of broccoli, cauliflower, cabbages, and others. Wait to plant warm-season annuals (tomatoes, peppers, basil, marigolds, petunias, and the like) until all danger of frost has passed.

Fertilize

Fertilize your lawn with either an organic or a chemical product: You can also simply rake a 1/2-inch of compost over your lawn. This is also the time to apply a crabgrass preventer, if you choose. Check out products that combine the two, saving on application time.

Remove Winter Protection

If you wrapped or otherwise provided heavy winter protection for your roses and deer favorite plants, remove this month. Wait to remove soil from around the base until late this month or early next.

Later this month or early into the next, apply a pre-emergent weed killer to beds and borders. It will greatly reduce weeds later on. However, it works by preventing seeds from germinating, so don't apply anywhere you're planting seeds.

Building a Cold Frame

The cold frame structure will allow you to plant radishes, spinach, lettuce and other cool-season crops early and use it for fall planting as well.

Prune Raspberries

June-bearing types should be thinned to 6 inches apart, the tips removed, and old dead canes from last year removed.

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