Be Sure to Do These 10 Things in Your Garden Before Winter Ends

The transition from late winter to early spring is a delightful period of preparation, planting, and tending. Here’s how to make the most of this season of anticipation.

Plant

–Now is the best time to plant strawberries! Pluck off any blooms until the first wave of warm weather to concentrate the plant’s fruiting energy into large sweet berries rather than small tart ones.

–Add herbs as landscaping accents. Try tucking in chives and other alliums for spear-like spring blooms or rosemary and woolly thyme for attractive, drought-tolerant ground covers.

–Citrus and avocado trees do best when they’re planted from late February through May. Rub any suckers off trunks as they appear to focus new growth into maturing branches and flowers.

–Divide yarrow and replant as ground cover or a lawn alternative. For easy separation, water the area the day before to ease digging up the entire root system. When separating clumps, add humus to the new planting area, spread roots out, and water well for smooth transplanting.

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Harvest

–If you planted fava beans as cover crop, pull up plants when half of the blooms have opened for greatest soil benefits, as nitrogen in the root nodules will be transferred out of the soil into developing beans. Lay plants on top of soil to break down as green manure for improved soil fertility.

Protect

–Prevent damping-off disease on spring seedlings by watering or spritzing with chamomile tea, a natural antifungal. Steep 1 tbsp dried chamomile in 6 cups boiling water and allow to cool before using.

–Give your hands a moisturizing treatment as you garden by applying healing calendula lotion or cream before putting on your garden gloves.

Maintain

–It’s time to do routine inspections on raised garden beds. Tackle any repairs, add a fresh coat of protective stain, and install any necessary gopher wire beneath the soil line before transplanting late winter and spring seedings.

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–Prune and cut back perennials, ornamental grasses, and lavender for best production and flowering this coming summer.

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–Pull weeds now, when their roots are small and before they form flowers or seeds. If any weeds have already formed seedheads, skip the composter to avoid germination (and headaches) in other parts of your garden.

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