Featured Article by Liz Shemaria
Whether you are giving your garden a refresh to put your home on the market and sell your house fast or want to get it ready for spring, it’s a great time to update your spring garden as the temperature rises.
Creating an action plan is the best way to help you finish the job. While the amount of work required will depend on the size of your garden, the climate you live in, and how your garden survived winter, an essential checklist can help you get started. Doing spring prep work will also prepare your spring garden to flourish in the summer and fall.
An essential spring garden checklist
Assess your garden’s health
As your garden moves out of hibernation mode, you can see how your plants fared during the winter. Spring is the time to give plants extra nutrients and water. Asking at your garden center about the best food for your plants can help restore anything lost during the summer months and give them the extra boost needed for spring. This is the time to trim away anything decaying and make room for new blooms.
For more giant trees, it can be the ideal time for an arborist to come out and assess your trees’ health. Slow-release organic fertilizers can be perfect for any garden, from trees to shrubs to flower beds.
Look out for unwanted visitors
In winter, insects and other pests may make themselves comfortable in your garden. While some insects are a normal part of a garden environment, others can lead to problems eating away your blooms. If you notice an unusual pest in your garden, it’s a good idea to have a gardener come in to assess whether you need to take action. The same goes for giant trees that may have been damaged during winter storms, making them more susceptible to decay.
Fill the gaps with mulch
If you have a lawn, it will need some extra TLC in the spring. Maintaining a yard in perfect green condition takes extra effort, and filling bare patches with mulch can be more straightforward than reseeding your lawn. The advantage of mulch is that it can add moisture to your garden while reducing the maintenance of mowing and watering a lawn.
You may find that it’s an ideal solution to replace a property with mulch and a rock garden to prepare it for spring and summer heat. Replacing a lawn with mulch can also make your home more desirable to sellers who may not be interested in a garden that requires a lot of maintenance.
Add new plants
A spring makeover can refresh your home and change its energy from dormant to active. The warmer season is the best time to add perennials and native plants to add color and life to your spring garden. Before you start, you’ll want to pull weeds and haul away anything that takes up space to make room for new blooms.
Be sure to pull weeds from the roots, add compost to enrich the soil, and trim away dead stems and leaves, especially as you bring in new plants. Planting summer flowering bulbs and wildflower ground cover can help add variety and life to your garden.
Give indoor plants some fresh air
While outdoor plants were hibernating, your indoor plants were keeping warm inside. As the temperature rises, it’s the perfect opportunity for your indoor plants to breathe some fresh air. Moving indoor plants to an outdoor patio can give them an extra light boost. While moving them, you can also check on the health of your indoor plants and see if they need to be transplanted into larger pots to give their roots room to grow. You may also want to replant some of your indoor plants, such as window box herbs, in your outdoor garden to help them flourish in the spring and summer sun.
Update garden furniture
One of the best parts of having a garden is enjoying all the hard work you put into it by hosting parties and other gatherings in the spring and summer. That means it’s time to take your furniture out of storage and assess whether it’s time to upgrade. You can follow the trend that started during the pandemic by adding outdoor furniture that is just as comfortable as your indoor furniture.
Couches and loungers with oversized cushions and tables big enough to serve full meals can all be part of an outdoor living area setup. Other amenities to consider are fire pits and even outdoor kitchens. Even a tiny space can be transformed into an outdoor living room with a few key pieces of furniture and string lighting that can take the area from day to night.
Making spring garden updates can prepare your outdoor space to enjoy all season long. A couple of weekends of work can be worth the effort to create a garden environment you’ll enjoy spending time in and sharing with your guests.
