Gardening is a year-round delicacy, but spring is special because this is the moment when all the plants in the garden and in the yard are buzzing with excitement.
The next six weeks mark not only the beginning of the growing season, but also the period when the plants are most vulnerable. Fresh growth is gentle and can be damaged by wild swings in March and April. In the mid-Atlantic (and many other parts of the country), Mother Nature can give us an 80-degree explosion, followed by frost and hail. You can’t do much against the damage caused by hail, but there are measures to help your garden survive the weather roller coaster. They also give you the opportunity to go outside to greet and enjoy spring.
You need to get fresh plants, soil mixtures, fertilizers and tools. This can be a concern at a time of coronavirus restrictions, but many horticultural centers, hardware and feed stores mostly operate outdoors. And of course there is a bazaar known as the internet.
Cleaning and bed preparation
In beds free of permanent plantings, such as a vegetable garden and annual flower beds, the tasks are simple. The first task is to remove weeds. Forget the upcoming dandelions and violets; I’m talking about settled winter weeds that have deep roots today and interpolators like hen, chicken grass, bitter cress, and ground amber. This rarely requires herbicides; the weeds easily accumulate between your fingers in the rich, moist soil of the vegetable stain. They also surrender to a weeding knife or a sharp, long-handled hoe. Contact them before sowing seeds.
Weed seeds germinate whenever the soil is disturbed, so weeding is not an annual event; it is a way of life. By sowing the desired seeds in a straight row, you can more easily spot the weeds that collide with the gate for quick removal.
During the tillage, all dead carrots, kale stalks and other remaining debris from the previous season must also be removed.
The soil is compacted by snow and rain and needs to be fluffed. This can be easily done with a three-prong cultivator, although I prefer to rotate the bed with a garden fork that goes deeper. After rubbing the soil, put a layer of fresh material in the bed and work in. You can use your own screened compost or a bag of soil conditioner. I like to use purchased composted leaf mold and matured manure, which in my experience is reliably free of weed seeds. Water the newly made bed and wait a few days for the soil to calm down before sowing and sitting.
In permanent plant beds, cleaning requires a finer touch. When removing weeds, be careful not to damage the emerging growth of bulbs and perennials. Manual pulling is a good solution, or use a small, sharp knife to get to tight spaces.
Remove the deciduous debris blown out from under the bushes and hedges that have accumulated in the winter, and cut off any remaining dead stems from last year’s perennials and grasses, taking care of emerging shoots as well. The soil benefits from a little cultivation and the top-dressing of compost or leaf mold, which is then incised into the soil. These beds also need to be covered with ground.
Frost protection
Once trees and shrubs have broken into flowers and leaves, they are prone to cold damage because the tissues are soft and sensitive. It is advisable to monitor the night temperature until the beginning of May. If frost or near-frost is predicted, certain plants may be covered for protection. Hydrangea Hydrangea is a good candidate for this, as is Japanese maple. The flowers of strawberries and blueberries should be covered to prevent freezing, as well as the flowers of apples, peaches and persimmons if the trees are small enough to cover.
On such nights, seedlings of vegetables, herbs and annuals should be covered.
If you don’t have gardening liner, you can use a light sheet. The challenge is to keep the cover from flying off (the needles are at hand) and not use anything that would crush the small plants.
Sowing and curing
Young plants are started in two ways: either by sowing directly in the garden or by planting small transplants a few weeks old. Some seeds may already get directly into the ground, including peas, radishes, carrots, nasturtiums, and lettuce, but wait until the soil warms up, at least until early May in the middle of the Atlantic to sow (or transplant) warm-season vegetables. and summer annuals.
The process of conditioning a transplant into a spring garden is called hardening. If you don’t, the plants are likely to wither and die – or at least not thrive. Even if you buy a transplant, there is no guarantee that it has been properly conditioned, so it must be hardened for safety.
During the day, place the dishes outdoors in a sheltered place away from wind and afternoon sunlight. Bring them in at night. Water them at least once a day before withering. Do this for a week before planting, but for longer if cold temperatures are expected.
Cold is not the only problem. After planting, the transplanted plants should be protected from the sun and wind for at least the first 24 hours with a gardening liner or shade. If this is not possible, plant it on a cloudy or rainy day.
Transplantation of harder plants such as cabbage, broccoli, parsley, lavender, coriander, nasturium and pansy will be a pleasure in April. Plants transplanted during the warm season, such as tomatoes, peppers, pumpkins, cucumbers and basil, need warmer soil and temperatures in May. Don’t rush their planting, even if they are (too early) available at retailers.
Ground cover
A light mulch layer of up to two inches helps to control weeds and retain soil moisture. But mulch should not be seen as a cosmetic coating for our benefit; it is there for the needs of the plants. Ground cover that is applied too often or too often will damage plants and soil. I prefer fine-textured, organic mulch, such as pine. Save wood chips for the paths. Avoid mulching volcanoes around trees that cause harmful root growth and other problems.
If you need more acres of ground cover each spring, it’s because there aren’t enough ground cover plants.
It may not be practical to plant all the empty beds in the yard at once, but you can start this spring by working an area of, say, 10 x 10 meters. Cork plants take a few years to fill, but they offer a more affordable way to mass plant.
Planting
It is best to plant most trees and shrubs in the early fall because they will not devote energy to peak growth while treating the transplant shock. Woody species planted in the spring require more attention, and the earlier we can plant them, the better they will settle before summer.
Most trees and shrubs are containerized and may have crowded roots that need to be teased and pruned, so there will always be some degree of root treatment and damage during planting. Be gentle and make sure the tree or shrub is set to the proper height and that the filled soil is firmly filled. It is advisable to do good soaking during planting and the plants should be watered from time to time, especially when the weather turns dry, but the roots should not be kept moist.
The principle of root canal treatment also applies to perennial and annual plants.
Lawns
Each lawn will look better if you get a sharp edge where it meets the plant beds. Use a spade or long-handled edging tool instead of a shovel if possible.
The grass type prevailing in the mid-Atlantic, the grass type is high in ryegrass, growing rapidly in the spring, especially in the wet. To reduce stress, it is best to keep it slightly three inches high, but trim it before it rises to more than four inches. This may mean you have to mow twice a week in April and May. Replace or arm the blunt mower blades.
Preemergent herbicides are available to control cancers and Japanese stilts, but the best way to minimize weeds is to make a thick lawn. Dandelions and other weeds can be excavated by hand or treated with a herbicide.
Lawn manure should be applied in the spring at half the normal fall rate to reduce nutrient runoff, but check the rules where you live; some jurisdictions restrict the use of fertilizers and pesticides on your home lawn.
The optimal time to sow chanterelles is late summer and early fall. With proper soil preparation, bare spots can be sown now, but in the summer heat, new grass can melt. Similarly, fresh lawns need soil preparation and may not survive the summer, but they will look good for at least a few weeks. Consider turning part of your lawn into a plant bed.
Container gardening
Old soil and plant material should be cleared; the soil can be scattered in the garden and the pots can be rubbed with a bleach solution to disinfect them and send the snails in their path. It is best to use a fresh potted mixture. To go further, fill the bottom half of the pot with your own compost. The weed seeds in the compost will be buried safely.
Tanks must be emptied. Make sure that the drain holes are not blocked or under a saucer. The same hardening rules apply to container plants.
Fertilizers
Plants get a boost from the fertilizer, but check the proportions of key nutrients – nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium – to make sure it is appropriate for the plant being fed. Slow-release feeds are useful in container plants. Granular fertilizer can damage plant tissues. I generally prefer organic fertilizers such as seaweed flour, fish emulsion and plant feeds made from animal by-products. They are gentle on plants and help maintain soil biology.