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Guide to Prepare Your Garden for Spring Planting
Spring symbolizes rebirth and new beginnings, and this is especially evident when walking through your garden. New plants and flowers blossom with warmer air, longer days and the return of wildlife. Understanding how and when to prepare your garden for spring helps ensure a successful project that rewards you with new flowers, thriving plants and a healthy lawn.
Soil and Garden Preparation: The First Step to a Thriving Spring Garden
The first step in preparing your garden for spring is to wake it up from winter dormancy. This includes several steps, such as cleaning your garden by removing debris like dead leaves and branches. It also includes other vital processes like preparing your soil and pruning.
When Should I Start Preparing My Garden for Spring?
Naturally, the best time to prepare your soil for spring is during the fall. However, a few other considerations and tips can help you prepare your soil during prime time. You can check your soil temperature to ensure it is warm enough and wait until the last of the frost has completely passed before working on your soil.
A flourishing spring garden is only possible with healthy soil, and understanding when to prepare soil for spring gardens is key.
How to Test and Amend Your Garden Soil
One of the most convenient and effective ways to understand your soil health and needs is to use a quality pH soil tester. The test can help you determine your soil's pH as well as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium levels. Your soil test will give you the best indication of which types of composts and nutrients you should use.
What to Add to Your Garden Bed Before Planting
Adding mulch and compost to your soil is essential to nourish and protect it. Naked soil can erode or wash away, and the last thing you want is for your hard work preparing the soil to be in vain. You can protect your soil with mulch or compost ahead of spring.
Nourish your garden with a quality soil and soil enricher. Products like Miracle-Gro All-Purpose Garden Soil can enrich your existing soil and release plant food to help establish healthy roots.
The Importance of Pruning
Pruning is essential to keep your plants healthy. The ideal time to prune many of your spring plants is early spring, before you see new growth and after the danger of late frost has passed. For shrubs that go dormant in winter, like roses and flowering shrubs, you should prune while they are still dormant, which can be anytime from late winter to early spring.
When pruning, it is important to use sharp shears for a clean cut. Remove dead foliage and cut your stems back. Be careful of over-pruning, which can remove flower buds, especially for perennials like hydrangeas. Pruning is also the perfect time to divide overcrowded plants, improving air circulation and ensuring your plants don't suffer from unhealthy competition for nutrients.
Gardening Organization and Planning
Organizing and planning your garden is an important part of deciding which flowers and plants you want to grow. Spring is an excellent time to grow a variety of plants, but you should know which plants prefer sun or shade and which plants need more or less drainage.
Understanding each plant's needs will help you plan the layout of your garden so that each plant has the chance to thrive. Another great tip for organizing your garden is to grow taller plants to the north of your garden beds so that they do not overshadow smaller crops.
Some of the best flowers for a beautiful spring garden include:
- Primrose: Primroses are early spring bloomers that come in a range of beautiful, bright shades. They are versatile, growing well along walkways, in garden beds and in pots. Keep them partially shaded in well-drained soil for the best results.
- Wisteria: Wisteria is an iconic spring flower with cascading, beautiful bunches of fragrantly sweet flowers. Wisteria has a long lifespan and grows well in sunny areas. The vine needs a good support structure to prevent damage to fences and walls. Be sure to choose American wisteria to prevent accidentally planting invasive species.
- Tulips: Tulips are vibrant springtime flowers that come in various colors, shapes and sizes — each with its own charm. You can grow tulips anywhere in your garden, and they will thrive with full sun and well-drained soil.
- Daffodils: Daffodils are quintessential spring flowers that are easy to grow, making them an ideal option if you are new to gardening. These early spring bloomers come in an assortment of bright, cheerful colors. Daffodils prefer full sun and well-drained soil.
- Crocus: Crocuses are hardy plants that bloom soon after the worst of the cold is over. They are easy to grow and add visual interest to any garden with their many lovely colors, including purple and striped varieties. They are also great for attracting pollinators!
Advice for Pest Control
Developing a pest control strategy will depend on the types of pests you commonly deal with and the methods you are comfortable with. Pest control methods range from completely natural to organic herbicides and stronger solutions. You could try:
- Spraying plants with water to remove aphids.
- Handpicking pests from your garden.
- Placing copper tape around plants to remove and deter slugs and snails.
- Applying horticultural oil to your plants.
- Exploring a range of organic herbicides.
A product like Scotts Turf Builder Weed & Feed can help you control over 50 listed weeds and can help thicken your lawn.
Visit Busy Beaver Building Centers for Your Lawn Care Needs Today
Knowing how to prepare your garden for spring is the fastest way to growing success! With a little preparation, you can have a vibrant, beautiful and thriving spring garden.
If you need help finding the best plants, soil enrichers, weed control products and gardening tools for your home, the team at Busy Beaver Building Centers is here to assist.
We are a home improvement center that stocks an extensive range of quality lawn and garden products. We also stock building materials, furniture and decor, appliances and cleaning supplies. We prioritize the community by providing outstanding customer service, carrying affordable inventory, and offering worthwhile in-store and online deals and price matches. We also have a great rewards program.
We proudly serve local communities with big-box inventory, available in-store across our locations in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia. You can also shop online with in-store or curbside pickup options. Shop our seeds that suit all your garden projects, whether you are preparing a vegetable garden for spring or want the loveliest flowers!
