10 Essential Spring Gardening Tasks

As we all know, spring is the best time to be active in your garden.

Do Spring Inspection

When it first gets warm enough, it will be time to put on your inspectors’ hat and head out to inspect your garden. You should go out and see what happened in your garden during the winter. Take note of if there are any damaged plants, beads that need to be cleaned out and well if there is any hardscape that needs to be fixed. 

Address Hardscaping Issues First

When it is still a bit too cold to work the ground, you should focus on fixing up the hardscaping. That means that you should fix all the damaged walls, level out the spitting stones, fix the fences, clean out the gutters and fix and clean the window boxes. These fixes are all easier to do while your plants are still resting. During these times it is also a great time to work on your new garden plan.    

Test Your Garden Soil

Experts have said that if you are planning on planning something and keeping up with your garden, you should test your soil over 3 years and see what organic materials or nutrients it needs or needs less of. If you have never done it, all you need to do is a soil sample kit. Depending on what type of soil you have you can know which plants can thrive in your garden.    

Refresh Your Lawn

If your lawn is really grass, spring is the time to pay attention to it and see what it needs. Make sure that all your grass is mowed as well as see if there are any spots that need help growing. Before you get into mowing make sure that you have cleaned off your lawn of any debris or things that might have accumulated there over the wintertime. 

Make Sure Your Tools Are Ready To Be Used

If you for some reason did not store your tools properly during the wintertime, you should give your tools some attention and aid them back to life. Make sure that your pruners are rust-free and sharp, wooden handles are clean and sanded as well as ensure that your garden hose is working properly. Make note of any tools that you need to buy in order to have a successful gardening season.

Put Out Any Of Your Necessary Supports Like Trellises And Stakes

If you have stored your trellis in your shed or garden during wintertime, early spring is the best time to bring them out to your garden. Make sure that it is sturdy and that you give it a new layer of paint before you use it. If you are growing plants or flowers that need the extra support make sure that you have all the equipment for them and set it up so they don't break. 

Divide Your Perennials and Transplant Any Shrubs

During early spring when things are starting to grow and blossom, make sure that you are dividing and transplanting any perennials that outgrew their space. Dividing and moving perennials is best done at the opposite season of their blooming season. That means that if you have fall or spring-blooming perennials you should move them in spring. Doing so will avoid disrupting their bloom cycle. You can move evergreen shrubs really in the spring before there is any new growth or early in fall if you want to give them time to get new roots before wintertime. But when it comes to deciduous shrubs, they can be moved almost anytime that they are not in bloom, but generally, spring is the preferred time to do the transplanting. If you move your plants when they are dormant, they are less likely to be stressed and harmed.   

Be Prepared To Cover Your Plants If Freezing Temperatures Can Happen

If you live in a place where late spring frosts are common or just a possibility, you have to be prepared to take action if it does happen. Make sure that you are prepared to cover up the plants that have even the lightest buds or foliage if freezing temperatures are in the forecast. If the buds haven't started opening there is no need to cover them. 

Plant Your Spring Containers And Borders

If you are not patient and you want to plant something but the soil is not yet warm enough, you can plant plants like nemesia, pansies as well as daisies because they won't mind the cooler soil. Make sure that you do your spring containers with lobelia, petunias as sweet alyssum too. But when it comes to other annuals it is always better to wait until the last frost to start planting them. 

Clean Your Bird Feeders and Baths

If you are someone who enjoys having the cheerful company of birds, now is the perfect time to give the birdbaths and feeder a good clean and fill them up. Make sure that you disinfect the feeders with a bleach and water solution. Then rinse them off and dry them before filling them up again. Just like the feeder, you will want to clean the birdbath so no one gets sick. Keep in mind that you should clean them regularly throughout the season.

Spring gardening doesn't have to be something that stresses you out. Reshaping and revamping your garden can be a very relaxing and joyful activity. Working on your garden is all about being outside in the sun surrounded by colors and listening to birds chirping. To make spring gardening easy and fun to do you will need to plan ahead what you will do. The more you plan and enjoy this process, the better your garden will look during hotter months and the most enjoyable your outdoor space will be.