Spring is in the air! It’s time to grab your gardening gloves and check out these tips on how to prep your garden. Kirsten Conrad, a horticulture extension agent with the Virginia Cooperative Extension in Arlington, offers expert advice.
Test Your Soil
If you haven’t tested your soil in the last three or four years, it’s time to do so. Pick up a soil test kit to check the pH level as well as the major nutrients in the soil. Test kits are available at your local extension office, Conrad suggests.
You typically want to aim for 6.5 to 6.8 pH for most plants. You want a lower pH for blueberries (4.5 to 5.5) and evergreens (6.0 to 6.5). For azaleas or rhododendrons shoot for 5.7 to 6.2.
While not all soil tests check for the nitrogen content — because it fluctuates so widely — all plants need a nitrogen source. So plan to deliver nitrogen either through organic compost or fertilizer, Conrad explains. “But keep in mind that too much nitrogen will result in abundant vegetative growth at the expense of flowers and fruit and may even result in increased aphid feeding on your plants,” she adds.
Prep Your Garden with Pruning
Be sure to consider the specific plants that you have when attempting to prune your garden.
“Pruning is a basic task that should be done on summer flowering plants in the dormant season of late winter or early spring,” Conrad says.
However, plants like azaleas and rhododendrons — and other spring flowering plants — should not be pruned in this dormant season or in early spring, she adds.
“Instead, these early flowering plants should be pruned after they bloom and before mid-summer,” Conrad says.
Dormant season pruning is also done on fruit trees. Some trees like birch, maple and walnut should also not be pruned until early summer.
“Woody plant pruning should be done annually to rejuvenate older plants, remove broken or damaged branches, thin over-crowded plant crowns and remove crossing or rubbing branches,” Conrad says.
Clean Up Old Vegetation
Removing spent vegetation is good for aesthetics, and makes room to add organic matter to the planting areas.
Consider these guidelines:
- Try to leave overwintering plant stems until temperatures are steady above 50 degrees during the days. Overwintering beneficial insects are destroyed when garden cleanup is done too soon.
- Never have more than three inches of mulch on tree circles or around your shrubs.
- Never let the mulch cover the crown of your plants or be piled up around tree trunks. If older mulch is already high, and edging the beds will add additional height to the beds, you should plan to remove excess soil and old mulch to be composted before adding more to the beds.
- Consider using arborist wood chips instead of bark mulch. The wood chips are far superior for building soil than bark. You can also try using ground cover plants instead of mulch in some areas.
- Remember that mulch is a carbon source or a brown material. Mixing undecayed mulch or woodchips into your garden soil will require an addition of a nitrogen source for it to decompose quickly.
Know Your Plants
If you don’t know the name of all of your plants, you can use a plant identifying app such Picture This, Conrad suggests.
“Knowing what your plant is will help you to understand the cultural needs of that plant, the common pests and diseases of that plant and how to keep it healthy,” she adds.
For instance, herbaceous perennials need to be ‘deadheaded’ and have their crowns cleaned as new growth starts. “And many healthy perennials that have been in the garden for more than three years may need to be divided to ensure best flowering and renewed growth,” Conrad says.
Additionally, get in the habit of getting to know a potential addition to your garden before you add it. It will help you make good decisions about placement, plant combinations, and potential maintenance needs.
Fertilize Your Lawn
Established cool season lawns should be fertilized. Use up to one pound of actual nitrogen fertilizer in the spring, Conrad advises. These lawns should have the majority of their annual three pounds of nitrogen application in the fall months of September to November,” she adds. “And at least 50 percent of that nitrogen should be WIN (Water Insoluble Nitrogen).”
You may also wish to apply a broadleaf weed control product. And crabgrass control in the springtime as early as when the forsythia blooms, Conrad says.
For help determining fertilizer amounts or to identify a plant, you can contact your local extension office. Or contact the Extension Master Gardener Help Desk in Arlington at [email protected].
Feature image, stock.adobe.com
