5 Spring Garden Preparation Tasks!

Spring is officially here!  Spring’s arrival means it is really time to be thinking about the garden (as if we haven’t been since fall).  It’s always important to get the spring gardening season off to a great start.  Today let’s look at a few garden tasks that need done to help get your garden going.

5 Garden Preparation Chores and Tasks

Check your garden hoses!

Each spring you should check your garden hoses.  Put a hose nozzle on one end and hook it up to the faucet. If there is a leak at either end check the gasket on the inside.  You can buy replacement gaskets very cheaply.  If it’s not just a missing or worn out gasket you may have to replace a hose end.  Repair kits are cheap and easy to install.

Maintain your power equipment

Go ahead and get out the mowers and trimmers and give them a good once over.  Look for flat tires, chewed out lines (you never know when a mouse will take up residence in your shed), and check the belts. Replace anything that is worn out.  Change the oil if you didn’t in the fall and fill it up with ethanol free gas. Ethanol can damage the engines so use a fuel treatment if necessary.  Sharpen your mower blades to guarantee a clean cut.  An unsharpened blade leaves a jagged cut that turns brown and doesn’t look as good as it should.

Sharpen your garden tools.

A good sharp garden tool makes gardening so much more fun! Sharpen the blades of your shovel, pruners, spades, lopers, or anything else with a blade.  A file works great but a master gardener I spoke with recently recommended to take your tool and put vegetable oil on it then dip it in a bucket of sand.  This sharpens and cleans your blade.

Clean up your perennials.

If you leave your garden foliage up for winter interest it’s time to cut it back.  Compost the dead foliage. When cleaning up your dead growth you also have a great opportunity to weed and note what is coming back and what may not.  Observe everything you can!

Mulch it all!

Mulching your garden is one of the best things you can do.  It adds organic matter to the soil (if not using stone to mulch with), protects against temperature fluctuations, keeps water in the soil for better drought tolerance, and can look pretty spiffy too!  I generally use hardwood mulch but also use pine straw for ornamental areas.  For the vegetable garden straw or dried grass clippings work great.  Just be sure to use untreated mulch with no artificial coloring.

There can be a lot to do in the garden this time of year so break it down into easy to do chunks of chores. How far along is your garden to do list this spring?