It’s hit or miss with our weather in March. Usually a miss with snow still.
But other days it gets into the 50’s and 60’s. It’s actually 66 degrees as I write this post. Warm enough to tackle a few garden chores outside but cool enough that I don’t get overheated.
Days like today are a rare jewel. The girls are at school, the baby is napping and I have a little extra energy to spare after my third cup of coffee.
Time to assess my outdoors spaces.
What should I be doing and more importantly, how about you?
Here are 10 spring garden tasks (let’s use the phrase garden goals instead…okay?) to tackle in spring.
Time to get these spring garden tasks done before your hammock comes out~ because then you really are done with work!
Keep scrolling to enter PLANT GIVEAWAY! Just click on the plant photo to enter on Facebook or you can enter on my Instagram account! https://www.instagram.com/raiseyourgarden/
1.) Acidify your blueberries, hydrangeas & rhododendrons
Confession time. I blew it with my blueberries last year. They bombed! Super sad after they did so marvelous the year before. Our five bushes produced an enormous bounty.
While I refuse to cast blame (Tom) the damage was irrefutable.
He added too much brown compost to the blueberries in fall and for whatever reason, this caused the blueberries not to flower and thus not produce any fruit.
It still stings.
I vowed that nothing like this would happen again. So today, I am amending the soil so it’s not alkaline.
The best time to to fertilize blueberries is in the spring before their leaves have grown in. This gives the blueberry fertilizer time to work its magic in the soil and make its way down to the roots of the blueberry bush before entering active growth.
While you are at it, do yourself a huge favor and also give your hydangeas and rhododendrons a boost as well!
2.) Pick up sticks and all the other debris in your yard!
We had one of the windiest and wettest winters ever. Tons of sticks fell off our trees making a mess of our yard.
And that’s not all. Wrappers, take-out food containers, water bottles and other debris has spread all over our entire yard creating even more of an eyesore.
You want all this cleaned up ASAP! Then you’ll be able to roll the yard as yet another of your spring garden tasks!
Why not make it a family event! I pay the kids 5 cents a stick and they seemed excited about it. We all win!
3.) Order your compost, soil and worm poop!
Now is an excellent time to amend your garden beds. Did crops fail last year? Did plants not flourish resulting in a smaller harvest?
Maybe your soil is depleted. And maybe that’s why, at least in part, in Biblical times people were instructed not to plow and plant the land every 7 years…..because it allowed the land to rejuvenate.
Exodus 23:11 says “but during the seventh year let the land lie unplowed and unused. Then the poor among your people may get food from it, and the wild animals may eat what is left. Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove.”
The company I order from delivers premium garden soil that provides the best levels of nutrients, minerals and soil texture to stimulate plants. It comes in a reusable bag right to my driveway. Easy button.
My plants absolutely thrived! I also added my homemade compost and spoiled myself by ordering worm poop online. Do it, you’ll have zero regrets. Worm poop is black gold for the garden! I use this brand!
Finally, if you order early, most companies offer some sort of discount. Mine, for example, gives a $20 discount if I order before April 15th. Hey, that’s $20 bucks!
4.) Clean patio furniture one of your spring garden tasks!
Cleaning patio furniture is almost fun. So fun, that some years I can convince my kids to do it as one of their spring garden tasks!
A hose, a little gentle dishwashing soap and you are good-to-go. Nothing worse than hitting full blown summer and still finding cobwebs and winter bird poop lingering on your chairs. Yuck on your butt for sure!
And when your patio furniture is sparkling, challenge yourself and sweep the front porch.
You’ll be so glad you did! Reward yourself with a new coir outdoor mat.
5.) Check drip lines as one of your spring garden tasks!
There’s zero doubt that having a drip watering system in place for your gardens and pots is the only way to live.
No more standing over a garden bed watering manually. Presto, the gardens are self-watering and on a timer.
Imagine going on vacay whenever you want without giving one thought to your gardens watering needs?
The self-sufficient garden is one of the best spring garden tasks!
What you want to avoid it getting close to May/June and finding lots of cracks in your system.
Overall, these systems, even though made of plastic are heavy-duty. Meaning…breaks and cracks are rare.
Still, in our harsh winters, over time breakage will happen over time. Now is the perfect time to assess the situation and replace missing or broken parts.
Maybe even adding a drip system is in the works for you this year! It’s one of the best garden investments I’ve ever made.
6.) Let sleeping dogs lie…..
Sometimes, it’s not what you do but what you shouldn’t do.
It’s a bad idea to prematurely remove leaves and other debris around your plants that are just emerging from the ground.
Resist the urge and don’t do it!
Why? Because it’s likely going to snow again and freeze (at least in my gardening zone) and you don’t want to kill your plants.
Those leaves and other bits and pieces that have accumulated over the winter are actually protecting your fragile plants, it’s simply too soon to remove this protective barrier.
Your hostas in particular will not thank you for it! Neither will your hydrageas.
In the above picture, you can already see buds forming on my hydrangea! Yay. But if you remove that leafy protection around the perimeter of the plant, you are leaving that plant vulnerable to frost.
So let sleeping dogs rest and do nothing. Take a nap instead!
7.) Weed before the ground hardens as one of your spring garden tasks!
So while you want to leave the compost/leaf/soil buildup around your plants nothing is stopping you from weeding the rest of your landscaping. (Insert big sigh here.)
Last year I bombed on weeding! I was pregnant and so uncomfortable. Bending over to yank weeds? Zero chance.
But it’s spring here and the ground is super wet. Saturated with water, pulling up weeds is a breeze.
Wait till the ground hardens and this task becomes an agonizing and sweaty chore. You might even have to pull out a shovel. Yikes.
Pull weeds now before the ground hardens and make space for new and exciting plants!
8.) Replace broken, cracked or ugly solar lights and other garden decor…
For some reason no garden is complete without a set of solar lights. From your front landscaping to the perimeter of the house and yes, even in your raised garden beds; solar lights are the path to illuminating beauty.
You deserve nice solar lights! Not only do they add ambiance, but they increase safety to your yard.
It’s a fact that you’ll less likely deal with intruders with extra light to expose them.
So take a walk around your yard. In what ways can you enhance the beauty of your spaces? Maybe it’s a new bird feeder or bird bath. Go for it.
Or, maybe you need a few tacky gnomes. I won’t judge!
How about a few lanterns or hooks to hang your petunias? Gorgeous! I always think gardening is a mix between growing for eating and growing for aesthetic purposes.
One big idea….perhaps this is the year to add a rain chain. I promise you won’t regret it as it adds such depth of grace and beauty.
Tom and I added a lamppost to our front yard that is lit solely by the solar energy. What a wonderful addition!
9.) Clean out your empty pots as one of your spring garden tasks!
Fall was a train wreck. I had my fourth baby and the garden was left to fend for itself.
Pots of annuals were left to die and their remnants in the form of sticks are still poking out of the planters.
There they remained all winter until now. Not very attractive. Even worse is that I won’t be able to plants seeds and the annuals I buy from the local garden center until these eyesores are slayed.
So I got out my wheelbarrow and loaded up all the dead bits and tossed them in the compost pile.
I’m laying a little fresh potting soil with compost and worm poop on top. And just like that, they are ready to be planted in when the weather finally turns in mid to late May!
I can’t wait. Planting annuals with all their vibrant colors is such a joy to behold!
10.) Take down the last of the Christmas decor
There I said it out loud and feel loads better now.
Life happens. Somehow a few Christmas decorations remain up and in charge even in March.
It’s time. Time to take them down and put them away. Besides, don’t dare spring not to come because it thinks it’s still December.
11.) Book that cruise to the Caribbean for February 2023!!
Oh…nevermind.
Not able to enter the giveaway, if forces me to Facebook.
Thanks
Hi RJ! Sorry about the confusion. The contest is being hosted on FB or Instagram and you can enter on either account to enter! Good luck!!
We are heading into fall but you would not believe it as it is still summer hot here. I love the statement “little extra energy to spare after my third cup of coffee”. That was me on Saturday haha
Do you have any entries for those that don’t have social media?
Such great information here and thank you for the giveaway opportunity!