Make sure you get a good start to the season by following this early spring gardening checklist.
- Clean up and repair- remove broken stems and branches and clean up any winter debris that has gathered around plants.
- As days get longer, start feeding indoor plants with a fertilizer solution at ½ the recommended strength.
- Start seeds for annuals and vegetables, but don’t start them too early! Follow the sowing instructions on the back of the seed pack.
- Give summer flowering bulbs, such as cannas, dahlias, and begonias a head start by potting them indoors under lights until the last day of frost.
- As soon as the ground is workable, plant cold crop vegetables such as sweet peas, onions, cabbage, radishes, and leeks.
- Prune deciduous trees and shrubs, except for those that flower in spring, such as lilac.
- Spray scale-infected trees and shrubs with dormant oil spray before their leaves appear.
- Cut the stems of ‘Annabelle’ hydrangea back to the ground.
- Apply slow release fertilizer to flowering shrubs and vines.
- Pull out weeds as they appear.
- Inspect your gardening tools for any repair or sharpening that might be required.
- Apply lawn fertilizer with corn gluten to minimize the germination of crabgrass and dandelions.
- Start to plan out which trees and shrubs you’d like to add to your landscape, so you can plant them as soon as they become available. Make an appointment with a landscape designer to help with your plans.
Click here for a printable version of our Early Spring Gardening Checklist.
