Top 5 Tips for Your Spring Garden

Now that we have nearly reached the end of January winter is on the way out and spring beckons so it is time to plan for the coming season. These five tips cover the basic essentials needed to prepare the garden so that we can make a start as soon as the weather allows. I found these five suggestions in an article by Patricia Oelze which I came across on Dave’s Garden website.

For those of us who have been inundated by snow and freezing cold weather, we are just dying to get out in the yard and do some gardening. Within the next month or so, it will be time to start getting the garden ready for spring, depending on where you live. Whether you are planning a huge vegetable garden or simply plant flowers wherever you want, here are some good helpful tips for you:

[email protected]
Check the Basics
The first thing you need to do is?check your garden?for any damage or issues you need to take care of before you start planting. Check out your trellis and fences for signs of damage or splintering. You may need to paint or replace them. If you use raised flower or vegetable gardens, make sure the sides are not bowed or coming apart. Look at the amount of weeds that grew over the winter months. Amazing how weeds can grow no matter how cold it gets. You will want to pull those weeds now. If there are too many of them, use a garden hoe or tiller to make the job easier and faster. Also, check out your compost area. If you do not have a compost area, now is a good time to start one. Oh, and take a little notebook and pen so you can?write things down?to do later that you do not want to forget.

[email protected]
Get Your Soil Ready
If you want to have the best producing garden in the neighborhood, you have to start early getting your soil ready. Test the soil first. You can buy a soil testing kit at any gardening store or big box store or you can?buy one online. These tests should measure the amount of potassium, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, nitrogen, and the soil?s pH. The nutrient and pH levels in your soil are important to your garden?s success. However, even if you have the perfect nutrient levels but do not have the right pH, your plants will not be able to absorb the nutrients that they need. The instructions will tell you what?minerals and nutrients?you will need to add to your soil to get it ready for planting.