Tips for a Better Garden
Five Spring-Time Garden Tips to Get You Started
Finally, the warmer weather is upon us, after another marathon winter. With the COVID-19 pandemic, and self-isolation, we’ve spent weeks indoors, staring at Trump and Trudeau on our TVs, staring longingly at the onset of spring through our living room or kitchen windows
Well, that’s over now. Turn the TV off. Remember that as you get out, to start working on your garden, keep your six feet distance if you are working with someone, or a neighbour comes over for a post-hibernation chat.
That said, here are five tips to get your garden off to a roaring start:
Remove garden debris
Clear away any leaves, branches, winter mulch, and any other unsightly clutter.
Trim flowering bushes
Trimming flowering bushes helps to keep them healthy and it helps improve their flowering. Remove old flower growth so the new growth can flourish through the growing season. Look for dead or damaged branches or other material on the plant and remove it. You want to prune in such a way that allows the sun to get to the centre of the bush promoting new growth. In the early spring, I prune my Hydrangeas, Lilac trees, Smoke Bushes, Rhododendrons, Azaleas, Japanese Itoh Peony Trees and miniature Japanese maples.
Remove any weeds and invasive flowers
Deciding what to remove from the garden usually begins with some time removing clusters of Amethyst Ladybells. This is a
beautiful perennial that can quickly choke out all other plants if allowed to get established.
Edge gardens
Establish the edge line around the flower beds, bushes and shrubs (use a string or even a garden hose, especially if you are going for a curve instead of a straight line). The idea is to keep your grass from growing into your garden. Use a metal edger with a half-moon shape to it, and push it into the ground as deep as the tool will go. Remove the grass that you have taken up. Edging will stop the spread of your grass into the garden.
Mulch gardens
Mulching enriches your soil and keeps the roots of your plants moist and cool during the hot summer months. Spread the mulch over open soil in the gardens with a rake to a depth of about two or three inches. Leave a two-inch ring around trees. I have always used classic cedar mulch in my gardens.
