As April approaches, it’s time to prepare for spring planting! You’ll want to use copious amounts of organic matter in your gardens.
Planning
- Prepare your garden for spring planting using lots of soil.
- For areas with poor drainage, you’ll want to have raise beds, at least 2 inches of organic matter.
- Use a soil thermometer to gauge when to plant vegetables. You want a constant temperature of 60ºF in order to start planting warm season vegetables like beans and corn.
Maintenance
- For spring flowering bulbs, make sure they brown and die down before removing. They need to be fed through their leaves so they can flourish in the next season.
- Cane, bush and trailing berries will need to be fertilized. Use commercial fertilizers, manure or compost.
- Use compost or decomposed manure for perennial vegetables (such as asparagus and rhubarb).
- Cover anything that’s been replanted to protect them from late spring frosts.
- April is the best time to fertilize your lawns. Use 1 pound nitrogen per 1000 square feet of lawn. Do not fertilize before it rains, as the runoffs may get into local waterways.
Planting
- Yes! Time to plant those veggies – beets, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, chard, lettuce, spinach and the lot.
