Spring Cleanup
by Barbara Leonard
Depending on the type of gardener, winter cleanup either never happens, or it might be a modified cleanup of leaves off the lawn and annuals pulled up. Then there’s the gardener who makes serious work at removing all leaves and trims dead tops of perennials, resulting in a perfectly neat garden full of winter beauty. The advantage of leaving the entire mess through the winter is that it provides plenty of cover and food for small birds and animals during the winter. The downside is the big cleanup left to do in wet, cold March to prepare for the emergence of all that your spring gardens offer.
The subject at hand is spring cleanup. Right now, bulbs are emerging; branches are red with growth, and their buds fat with promises. Early plants are starting to green at their bases. If we want to see all these promises of spring, then we must clean up now: remove leaves and branches, cut back dead growth from last season, pull up any remaining annuals that didn’t make it. Due to our warm winter, weeds are rapidly taking over beds. Now’s the time to pull them before they flower.
Early spring, while it’s still wet and cold, is an excellent time to take stock of your garden tools. This is FUN! Wheelbarrow falling apart? Fix it or put it on the curb. Clean your pitchfork and shovels, consider sharpening the edges if a sharp edge is important to you. Same with trowels and pruners, large and small. Clean them, rub away rust with steel wool, sharpen and oil. How about old supplies of seed and bulbs? Generally these don’t work well if they’ve summered and wintered over in your garage. Toss them. Spend a cozy weekend looking at plant and seed catalogues coming in every day, order seeds and plan to start them soon.
These weeks are also great for reexamining your beds, remembering failures, disappointments, and frustrations from last summer. Consider how you might improve them. Too much shade on your vegetable bed? Perennials too crowded? Ferns not doing well in the shady areas? Too much grass? Too many beds? Now’s the time to make a plan to improve your garden and to avoid new mistakes. Good old Google is the best place to start, offering more information than you could ever ask for. Gardening websites, magazines, books and classes can give you inspiration for improvements and better methods. Green Spring’s library offers a wonderful, complete selection of horticulture reading and research. There are also used books and magazines to purchase in the shop area. Green Spring offers wonderful classes about all things growing, hardscape and landscape. Sign up now.
Don’t forget about seed swaps and later plant swaps.
It’s also time to reactivate your compost. Turn what’s left, and begin adding your kitchen scraps and a lot of your winter cleanup material. Composts are warmer than you think and will start the breaking down process on warmer days. Enjoy all the plotting and planning and research for your new and improved garden, but don’t forget to get out there and do the cleanup!
(All photos credit: Barbara Leonard)
