Waking Up the Garden
5 Important Spring Chores for Garden Success
It is a wonderful thing that all of us in the Northern Hemisphere are ready to get outside come March, because while its still too cold to plant seedlings outside there are key chores that must be done while the weather is still cool. So get your gardening gloves on and get to work on these 5 important spring chores for garden success.
1. Pest Management - Early spring is the best time to begin managing garden pest because their larva from last fall are still asleep in the soil. Spray beneficial nematodes on the soil every March, April, or May to keep pests at bay. Beneficial Nematodes are parascopic worms that kill larva of some major pests like Japanese beetles, thrips, flee beetles, and cucumber beetles. You can purchase them from Arbico organics online where they will ship overnight or in two days. They show up in a little bag and need to be mixed with water and sprayed onto your soil, preferably before a nice spring rain. Either use a watering can or a backpack sprayer depending on the size of your garden. Make sure you check the website to get the strain of beneficial nematodes that attack the pest specific to your garden.
And for grasshoppers, spread Nolo Bait around our beds to keep the population to a minimum. Nolo Bait can be found at most local garden stores and must be applied in early spring. Both of these are called Biological Controls which means its an organic way to managing pest in your garden.
2. Weed Management - Use a pre-emergent on all crusher fine pathways, rocks, and gravel driveways. Consider an organic pre-emergent (like corn gluten) on garden beds if your garden has alot of annual weeds. Early spring is the best time to apply pre-emergents as it dries up weed seeds as soon as they germinate. Note you can not use corn gluten or other pre-emergents on your garden bed if you plan to direct sow seeds. If you wait to apply pre-emergents until after the weed seeds germinate, it will not work and you will have to pull them out by hand. You must apply them before they emerge…hence the name pre-emergent.
3. Trim Perennials - If you left perennials intact over the winter to provide homes for beneficial insects, early spring is the time to now clean up. Remove garden debris and leaves from around the base of plants. Cut raspberry canes down to the ground if you have fall bearing varieties (which I recommend in cool climates), trim grasses to 6” or less, trim trees to shape and form open canopies, trim lavender, cut hydrangeas to the ground, and clean up any herbs that are still standing.
4. Rose Care - Wait until the end of April to trim roses in Zone 5, otherwise they could grow too fast and get hit with a late frost which could kill them. When caring for roses—don’t fret! They love to be trimmed back and will reward you greatly. When trimming roses, cut out any dead, disease, ugly or crossing canes and put them into the trash can. Roses have alot of disease so they aren’t good for adding to compost piles. Clean the garden bed by removing all the leaves and debris from the base of plants. When you trim a rose you want all the bud eyes facing outward so when you look down on the rose it looks like a basket. Trim roses to down to the green part which is normally 18” or less in cold climates. After you prune them, spray them with a mixture of horticultural oil and copper. Horticultural oil suffocates overwinter insect eggs and copper controls blackspot, mildew and rust. Mix the two with a surfactant to deliver the material so it doesn’t run off. Spray the plants while they are dormant and the ground around them.
5. Sharpen & Oil Tools - Sharpen tools and oil wooden handles (soft wood equals less splinters) so they are ready for when the season begins. You can use a sharpening stone on the blades and linseed oil on the handles, or you can take your tools to a company that has electric sharpening tools, or buy a sharpener yourself. Working with well maintained tools makes them easier and more enjoyable to use, not to mention saving you from having to replace them.
Spring in the garden is filled with excitement. Be patient in planting out tender seedlings and instead find enjoyment in prepping the garden for success. Remember the quote, “Failure to plan is planning to fail.” Do these 5 important chores in the spring and you will be on your way to a successful gardening season.
In Community,
Gina