Gardening advice for spring
Many of my clients covet yard space when they choose a house or condo to buy. If you have a single flower bed or an acre, this is the time of year that it begins to call for your attention.
My client, Carolyn Edsell-Vetter has a landscaping cooperative which had this list of April gardening chores. If you haven’t gotten to it yet, this may be the week:
- Begin spring clean-up. Remove fallen sticks and branches, rake leaves and other debris from garden beds. Add fresh mulch.
- Begin mowing lawns when grass is 3 to 3-1/2 inches high.
- It’s safe to begin planting perennials when the ground has thawed and soil temperature is about 50 degrees.
- Fertilize lawns.
- Spot seed lawns.
- New sod lawns can be installed in the spring or the fall.
- Severely prune deciduous shrubs and hedges for best regrowth.
- Fertilize perennials. Divide where necessary.
- Prepare flower beds for planting.
- Plant dormant or bare root roses.
- Prune broken, dead or diseased tree and shrub branches.
- Start annual seeds indoors.
And since May is around the corner:
- Mow and trim lawns, keeping height between 3 to 3-1/2 inches.
- Plant new trees and shrubs. Cool weather gives them a good start before the heat and drought of summer.
- Prune flowering shrubs after flowering.
- Prune hedges.
- Plant perennials. Stake any tall ones before they grow too high.
- Plant annuals after the frost free date in your area. (Memorial Day is always a safe bet in Massachusetts.)
- Plant hanging baskets and window boxes.
- Keep planting shrubs and roses.
- Prune broken, dead or diseased tree and shrub branches.