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Getting your garden going in the Spring can seem like an overwhelming task. After the long winter, there's cleanup to be done and weeds to be pulled, not to mention remembering where you planted your bulbs!
To help with this daunting task, we've prepared a checklist of things to do in the Spring to get your garden going early to help you have the best-looking house in the neighborhood.
According to NOAA's National Center's for Environmental Information, the average last frost date in our area is May 10th, but keep in mind that this is a guideline and our last frost could be before or after that date. This guideline is useful for planning your garden purchases. You could, for example, hold off on buying anything that isn't frost tolerant like annuals until after that date.
Mulch that's been overwintered tends to be broken down and gross looking. If you're like most people and want your garden to look it's best, we recommend that you replace your mulch every spring ESPECIALLY if it's colored mulch. After a full year of being exposed to the sun and rain as well as temperature swings it will have lost much of its brightness and perhaps more importantly, its ability to retain water and nutrients and keeping your garden soil from being washed away by wind and rain.
If your mulch is very deteriorated, you can simply mix it in with the top layer of soil and cover it with your brand new mulch. This way, it will keep decomposing and feeding your garden with the organic material and nutrients it craves and needs to look it's very best!
Now is the time of year to divide any perennials that may have gotten overly large, such as Hosta, Black-Eyed Susans, Sedums and Ornamental Grasses. Different types of plants have different root systems, so there are different methods you'll need to use if you want to achieve the best results. For a primer on dividing roots and the different techniques we recommend you head on over to this handy Clemson University guide on pruning.
Early spring is a great time to prune your trees, especially fruit trees. Pruning helps the tree maintain its shape and grow its foliage and flowers evenly, preventing "dead" spots in the canopy. This is another situation where the type of tree matters, so if you're not sure whether to prune before or after it buds/flowers, you can use this infographic as a guide:
Getting an early start in the Spring is essential to having a great looking garden. Following these tips will have it looking gorgeous in no time!
