Early Spring Gardening

It’s early spring (late March to the late April), still cool during the day and nights (well, most of the time anyway). What can be done in the garden at this time? Plenty. In fact, the cool weather makes it far more comfortable to do those laborious tasks like raking, edging and mulching. And there are crops that like the cool weather, so you can get your vegetable garden started earlier than one might think. While it looks like there’s a lot to do, it can be done a little at a time, when you have time.

Clean up garden beds
This can be done as early as late March, weather permitting. Remove leaves and debris accumulated over the winter. If you’ve provided any protective mulch to specimens (like roses, hydrangea, etc.), it should be pulled away and removed. I use a metal rake that is light weight and flexible so it won’t harm the perennials starting to come up. If there are perennials that you didn’t cut back in the fall, do it now. Some pointers:

• Cut the ornamental grasses within a couple of inches of the ground.
• Trim the butterfly bush to where you see new growth. If you’re trying to keep it’s size under control, cut it to within a foot or less of the ground.
• Remove all dead branches from Sweet Clematis or trim to keep size under control as desired.
• Some Clematis varieties can be trimmed to the ground, if you have one of those, then go for it.
• You want to remove as much debris from around your specimens as possible. Why? Because that’s where overwintering pathogens can reside, re-infecting your plants again this season.

Prune fruit bearing specimens and roses
The time to prune fruit trees/bushes, and roses is just before bud break (when there are no or small buds which haven’t leafed out yet). You want to remove any dessicated branches and canes. And then you can prune to shape, but no more than 1/3 of the bush or tree. Pruning promotes vigorous branching.

Apply dormant oil with a sulfur (lime) component
The application of dormant oil should be done on fruit bearing trees & bushes, after pruning. I’ve also used it on rose bushes. The dormant oil is used to treat or prevent pests; it encapsulates egg masses so they can’t hatch. The lime sulfur component is used as a fungicide to prevent common fungus from occurring (like black spot on roses). This application should be made in the middle to end of March, when temperatures are above 40 and your not expecting rain or freezing temperatures so that the application can dry. It is completely safe and organic.

I’ve found that nurseries are no longer carrying the dormant oil with lime sulfur. I could find dormant oil with no sulfur component and dormant oil with another kind of sulfur based fungicide; so that’s what I used this year (it is organic & safe too). You can buy the product pre-made and then attach to a hose for application. Or you can buy it in concentrate, in which case you’ll have to dilute it and use a 1 or 2 gallon sprayer to apply it. I used the pre-made version since I only have small blueberry bushes and a few rose bushes.

Turn & evaluate the compost pile
If you have a compost pile, you can turn the compost pile as soon as the ground is no longer frozen. I have a 3 bin compost system similar to this. So depending on the kind of composter you have, what you need to do may vary. I moved material from the second bin which was almost finished to the third bin. Then I moved the very full debris from the first bin to the second bin. This freed up the first bin for new material. The third bin can be sifted to get the good compost that I’ll use to freshen the vegetable gardens, barrels, etc. later.

Move/Split perennials
Any time between late March and mid June I move or split perennial specimens. The soil should be workable, but not soaking. How to split and move a perennial really depends on the kind it is. I’ll talk more about the various techniques that I’ve used in another post. But I’ve split most specimens (non fibrous rooted, like Shasta daisies) by simply sticking my shovel through the center dividing in half, or thirds (depending on the size of the original). Then I can dig out the clumps and move them elsewhere.

When I plant a new, moved or divided specimen, I generally dig the hole where I want to plant it first, a few inches bigger than the root ball. Then I add a mixture of compost and organic fertilizer (like Mother Nature’s Flower Cuisine), fill the hole with water & stir. Then I place the specimen into that mixture and fill in. Finally a good watering is in order (I generally count about 15-20 seconds). Depending on the weather you may have to water daily, but usually in early spring you don’t have to very often because it rains fairly frequently.

Prepare the vegetable garden
I always remove the plants and debris in the fall before winter. If you didn’t get to it in the fall, you have to clean up all the old plants and all debris as a first step. The next thing I do is to add compost and organic fertilizer (like Mother Nature’s Veggie & Herb Cuisine), to the bed. The amount of compost and fertilizer depends on the size of the bed, but for a 3×6 size bed, I add the compost in the amount of a 32 quart bag, that you’d buy at a garden center, and about a cup or so of fertilizer. Then I turn this into the soil using a garden rake and hoe, or my garden weasel. I don’t rototill deeply because it can disturb the beneficial microbes and life in the soil (though there is still controversy over this). The combination of cleanup and then refresh plus turning the soil seems to do the job.

If you don’t have compost, you can make a mix of topsoil, peat-moss, and fish/seaweed compost or cow manure; you can buy these in 16-32 quart bags form any garden center. I prefer not to use cow manure because I don’t know what the cows were fed.

Now the vegetable garden bed is ready for planting.

Plant cool weather crops
I usually plant cool weather crops in mid April, depending upon the weather. Cool weather crops are peas, onions, broccoli, cauliflower, swiss chard, spinach, to name a few. I usually choose snow & snap peas, green onions, broccoli, and swiss chard. Start the peas inside about the middle of March, then plant them next to a trellis (I use an expandable pea fence). At the same time, direct seed more peas with the plants. I’ll be direct seeding again every 2 weeks until the end of June (this provides an extended season & is called succession seeding).

I usually purchase a couple of 6 packs of lettuce and broccoli. Plant the broccoli in it’s own section and the lettuce intermixed with green onions that were also started mid March. Direct seed more lettuce in between the onions and lettuce plants and do succession seeding as was done with the peas for an extended season (when I plant the peppers and eggplant I’ll seed some lettuce in between those plants too). You can direct seed a whole row of lettuce at a time if you’re not going to do succession seeding.

Once planting is finished, place a row cover over the area to protect against really cool weather (45 degrees or below). If the temperatures during the day are above 50, pull back the row cover, then replace it at night.

Prepare barrels, planters & urns
If you have barrels or planters with soil already in them, you should refresh that soil by adding compost and fertilizer as was done in the vegetable garden (use the kind best suited for what you’ll be growing, like Flower Cuisine for flowers and Veggie & Herb Cuisine for herbs). If you have too much soil, you can remove some and put it either in a compost pile or in another area of your garden. If you have overwintered perennial herbs or flowers in the planter, when you refresh you’ll perhaps use less compost and add the mixture around emerging plants. I have a barrel with french tarragon and spearmint, which comes back each year, so I added compost and fertilizer scratching around the plants (note that mint can take over, so I actually have that planted in a pot inside the barrel to contain the roots).

For planters that you move inside the garage or shed for the winter, you can move them out at this time or wait. When you do move them out you’ll want to put fresh potting soil mixed with some fertilizer and compost. You want to use potting soil because it contains per-lite and vermiculite and is lighter than garden soil, which can get too compact for planters.

Fertilize perennials & shrubs
Your perennial specimens have gone all winter & now they’re hungry! Prepare a mixture of compost and fertilizer. Top dress the mixture around each plant, scratching it into the service. I usually use the Flower Cuisine since most of my specimens flower. For non-flowering specimens, like ferns, you can use an all purpose fertilizer like Mother Nature’s All-Purpose Cuisine. And for those acid loving plants (blueberries, hydrangea, rhododendron, azalea, etc.), you can use Epsoma Hollytone or Bradfield Organics Acid Adoring fertilizer. For the larger bushes, I don’t bother with the compost and simply sprinkle the fertilizer around the root zone.

I like Mother Nature’s because it’s made from all natural good stuff and I’ve had really good experience with it. But there are other organic fertilizers that are just as good from Bradfield Organics, Epsoma and Organica (all of which I’ve used at one time or another). Organic fertilizers are preferable because the work over a long time, and function to improve the soil which feeds the plants; and you don’t have to worry about burn.

After the initial fertilizing is done, you want to regularly feed your gardens with a foliar feed made from fish & seaweed (yes, it’s organic too!). I use Neptune’s Harvest and apply it using a feeder that attaches to the end of a hose (in fact I use it for my house plants when I water too); you can find it at just about any garden center. Starting at about the end of April, beginning of May I feed my gardens every 2-3 weeks. I feed my vegetable gardens more frequently, about once or twice a week.

Neem application begins
Once the garden specimens have emerged, those that have had problems with pests and fungal diseases in the past seem to do better with regular weekly applications of Neem. Neem is an organic pesticide and fungicide which can be applied up to the day of harvest. You can buy it in ready made spray bottles, but if you have larger jobs, you’ll need a concentrate. I’ve used the Bonide 70% Neem oil in the past, but am having a hard time finding it; so I recently purchased 100% Neem oil and mix it with some dish soap into a 1 or 2 gallon sprayer.

In my garden I’ve begun spraying broccoli, lettuce, hosta, butterfly bush, garden phlox, and clematis. I also drenched the soil where my oriental lilies will emerge to try and combat the lily leaf beetle. This is one of the weekly garden tasks that have a really good payback. As I add more vegetables, I’ll be spraying green beans, tomatoes, & squash too. I do find that the Neem helps, but isn’t 100%; a multi-pronged approach to battling insects and fungus is best.

Edge the garden beds
Any time between mid April and mid May is a good time to edge the garden. Over the last summer, fall and winter, the lawn has creeped into your gardens. If you don’t have raised bed, edging is your best bet. I use a half moon edger (similar to this). I like doing it by hand because I can make sure the edge is a good 6 inches deep and at the same time do a good weeding cleanup. It usually takes me 2 days and is quite a good workout! I’ve also tried edging in the fall instead of the spring, but like the spring the best for a good clean look.

Mulch garden beds
Any time between mid April and mid May is a good time mulch the garden beds. Mulching helps keep weeds in check and makes the garden beds look nice. If you’re mulching a new garden for the first time, then you’ll want to put down a good 2-3 inches. If you’re top-dressing than an inch will do. If you don’t know how much mulch you’ll need, you can measure the area and ask your garden center for an estimate based on that. If you don’t need much, you can buy it in bags. Otherwise usually garden centers will deliver a minimum of 3 yards. I prefer not to mulch my vegetable gardens and only mulch the perennial beds. And I prefer to use a mulch that is not dyed.

When you mulch around bushes or trees, make sure that the root flare is exposed. This is critical because the tree’s roots need to breath and it will die a slow death if you pile the mulch too high around the tree trunk.

After you mulch the garden, apply a weed preventer over the top of the mulch. I use corn gluten because it’s all natural and organic. You can use Preen, which does work better, but it isn’t organic and contains chemicals (if you’re using it in the vegetable garden, then do not use Preen, stick to corn gluten). If you’ve planted seeds in the garden, don’t apply a weed preventer because it will prevent your seeds from germinating as well.

Finally if you have a slug problem (which I do), apply iron phosphate in the form of Sluggo or Slug Magic. It’s completely organic and non-toxic. The slugs eat it and die. You can also bury tuna cans at the soil level and fill them with beer. The slugs are attracted to the beer, climb in and can’t get out (and drown).

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So here is the list of gardening tasks that can be done at this time. If you’re like me, you enjoy the physical labor and getting close to nature outdoors.

I hope you’ve found the information interesting and maybe learn a little bit. I welcome comments and discussion. There’s always new things to learn!

Happy Gardening!