Spring Cleaning
Now that spring is officially upon us, my garden is calling my name!
There are a few TLC things that need to be done before I can even start thinking about planting seeds outside in my climate. One thing to remember, especially if you live in a zone 5 like I do, spring can be tricky with the weather. Just because it reaches almost 70 degrees during the day, it is still cold at night, plus there is the added random snow storms that pop up late March/ early April. So it is good not to get to excited as hard as it may be.
For me, in my zone, my raised beds are no longer frozen but the ground is a little still. Probably in the next few weeks the ground will be ready. Winter can really leave a mess and when spring comes it is more apparent the amount of help a garden or backyard needs. Starting with the raised beds themselves, I usually put a fresh layer of straw over the top right before the first snow fall in fall. However now, it is mostly mush from the snow and wetness. But this is ok because straw is a natural material meaning it can just be turned into the soil and used as filler. I like to take a garden shovel at this point and just turn my dirt. Settling is normal and you may need to add more soil once you are ready to plant but for now, just a light toss to wake it up will do. If there are any rotting plants or flowers in the beds, you can leave them as they are also natural but I like to pull them out and throw them in our compost.
Spring is also a good time to fix whatever is broken. If a side of your raised beds is failing or a door on the garden is missing. Those warmer spring days are the perfect opportunity to fix those things that will help protect your garden. Currently, my garden compost bin is broken from the wood rotting away during winter. So that will need to be replaced before we use it. It is also a great time to add new features such as a bird feeder, hanging baskets, or stepping stones.
The ground around our raised beds, we have mulch. As tempting as it is to clean it all up, it is actually best to leave that until after you plant your seeds. A good rule of thumb is that you can start playing around with anything above ground, but wait to touch anything below or on the ground until you are ready to plant. There are a few reasons I like to stick to this rule. First, a lot of the animals are either just waking up, or are looking for their buried food now that the snow is gone. Animals like bees need things to forage on the first couple of months before plants start budding. Other animals like squirrels and rabbits, gather material to start making nests and get ready for mating season in spring. Nature usually takes care of itself in this way. Another reason I keep the ground as is for now, if there is human activity in and around your garden, the animals will most likely not burrow there. There have been years where we had bunnies born in our raised beds before we even planted seeds because they take what is around them in the garden and hop on into the beds. No one is around to stop them. Lastly, waiting until you plant your seeds to freshen up the ground mulch helps your garden look better longer. Planting seeds can be messy, you could spill soil everywhere and you matte down the mulch from the beginning, waiting until the end ensures your garden looks fresher longer.
When it comes to flowers, I have a section in my garden of wildflowers that grow from the ground. At this point, I will leave this area be as well. When I plant seeds, I will also sprinkle my flowers then mulch over everything. You do not necessarily need to rake out the old mulch and start over. You can if you want, but I usually only rake the top layer and add it to our compost then pour more on top.
Regarding your actual seeds and plants, many of them can actually already be started indoors. Currently, I have a quite a bit of seedlings started. This is a great way to practice succession planting as well. Depending on what plant you are growing, you can start one or two seeds indoors then start a few more in a few weeks. Then when it is ready outside, you can plant a few more directly in the ground and plant your seedlings alongside them. That way, you have a whole bunch of plants started that will harvest in succession from one another. It is important to read up on what plants you are growing. Some plants like those that grow underground, do not do well starting indoors and need to be directly sowed in the ground. Other plants that are faster growing you may also just want to start them outside like spinach or lettuce varieties. As these only take a few days to sprout.
The start of spring can be tempting and exciting. The local greenhouses open, the garden sections go on sale, but it is important to take a few steps in getting your garden as ready as possible so you can have more time to focus on your plants. Plus, in a zone like mine, a greenhouse may be open but they wont have plants in or growing until mid April because of the unpredictable weather.
