It’s the dead of winter and snow covers the ground. But it’s not too early to begin planning for the coming garden season. Here are ten things you can do now to get your garden ready for Spring.
For most of us, we can’t go out and plant our flowers, herbs or vegetables. But there are some indoor garden activities that we can do to make the process easier once we can get outdoors. Start with these ten steps so when the weather starts to warm up, you’ll be ready to go.
10 Ways to Get Your Garden Ready For Spring…
Sort and Organize Your Seeds
At the close of the gardening season, we often end up with lots of partial seed packets and seeds we’ve saved from our garden. Of course in our hurry to wind up the garden for winter we just toss everything in a pile. And we leave it. Am I right? So now is the time to gather all of the seeds you have in your stash and get them organized for the new season.
Many seeds have more than a year lifespan. Some seeds are viable for years. So pull everything out and sort the seeds you have, to determine what you might be able to use this upcoming gardening season. No need to buy 2 packs of basil seeds when you have 3 packs left over. You can test the viability of your seeds to make sure they will grow.
Here’s how: Take 10 seeds and place them on a wet paper towel. Fold the towel over the seeds and tuck the towel into a Ziploc bag. Now set the bag in a warm place. On top of your refrigerator is a good place to try. Be sure to label the bags if you are testing multiple seeds. Wait 7-10 days and then check to see if your seeds have sprouted. If you have no growth then you should discard those seeds and buy fresh. But if you have 70 % or more than you can use those seeds in your garden this year. Even if you have less germination than 70%, you can still use your seeds. You will just want to plant the seeds closer together than the recommended guidelines.
Plan what you are going to grow this year
Hopefully last fall you made a note of what you had too much of and what you needed to plant more of. You’ve discovered a new tomato sauce recipe that calls for Italian herbs. Your friend gave you a spiralizer and you need to plant more zucchini. You heard about a great new flower that you’ve been wanting to try. Your flower pots in the shade didn’t flower so well. Consider all these factors as you begin to plan your garden for the year.
If you have changes you need to make, the best time to decide, is before the garden and flower beds start growing. So start jotting down the vegetables and the flowers you want to grow. Make a note of what you need more of. What annuals do you want in your flower pots this year? Do you want to start a cutting garden or herb bed? You can use my Garden Planner to get started organizing your garden for the upcoming season.
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Draw a Garden Map of your flower beds and vegetable garden
Drawing a Garden Map helps you to get a better overview of what you currently have growing in your garden and where you have room for more plants. It helps to have a map of each flower bed and garden area to work with. There are a variety of ways to map out your garden. You can use colored pencils and pens to draw your garden free-hand or use a grid chart to draw your garden. This is a good way to make sure that you have enough room for all of the vegetables and flowers you want to grow.
Research any new plants to add to your garden
This is the best time to explore some new vegetable, herb, and flower options. Grab your favorite garden magazine or order a few seed catalogs to get some ideas of any new hot plants to grow this year. I like to find a new flower to plant in my cutting garden each year to help add variety to my summer bouquets. You might want to add in a new flowering shrub or perennial. If you like summer blooming bulbs you might want to look at those options as well. Garden magazines and catalogs just might be the inspiration you need to get through this cold and snowy winter season.
Clean up your garden shed
During the winter months, my garden shed becomes a gigantic mess. In the fall, it’s the best place to store summer season decor items that shouldn’t overwinter outdoors. Tools, containers and seeds all get stashed in the garden shed. It’s also a great place to hide Christmas presents. And I tend to use my shed as a catchall to clear my office/guest room for holiday company. I find it can become a dumping ground if I’m not careful.
So the winter months are a great time to start cleaning and sprucing it up. Why wait to spring clean. The holidays are over and the company is long gone. As you whip the garden shed into shape you can also declutter and reduce what you bring back into the house and store for the garden. If it’s still a little cold to be working in your shed you might consider a free-standing heater just to warm things up enough for you to work. Be sure to only have a space heater running while you are working out in your garden shed to reduce the risk of a fire.
Organize your garden tools and replace any damaged ones
Hopefully, you got your garden tools stored out of the elements last Fall. So now you can go through them and decide if you need to purchase or repair any of your tools. You will also want to clean and sharpen your tools so they are ready to go.
Here’s how: Start with a sturdy wire brush to scrub off any leftover garden debris. If the edge of your shovel and clippers has dulled, use a sharpening tool to sharpen it up. If your tools have any rust on them you can use sandpaper to remove it. Next, rub on a little mineral oil and you’re ready to go.
Now you can decide if you need to purchase a new shovel, rake, spade or clippers. Do you need an extra set to make gardening more convenient? We have two garden areas and it’s so much easier to have a set of tools for each area. You might also consider how best to store your tools, especially your hand-held tools. Here are a few ways to make your tools accessible during the growing season:
- Decorate a mailbox and attach it to a post in your garden
- Purchase a carryall garden bag so that you have everything all together
- Hang your tools from a pegboard on your potting bench
- Store your tools in a large terracotta pot
- Keep your tools in a rolling cart that you can sit on while you weed
- Use a bucket with a tool holder around the edges
- A tool belt could also work to hold your tools
- Buy a garden apron to carry your tools
- A tool caddy from the garage can work well for garden tools
Purchase supplies as they go on sale
Don’t wait for the garden season to purchase everything if you can find them on sale now. Certain things like potting soil and plants will be cheaper during the garden season. But even before the official first date of spring, many stores will run specials on garden tools and supplies. You can often find birdfeeders and seeds, gloves and garden pots on sale. Also, keep an eye out for clearance items. Many stores clear out old supplies in anticipation of the new spring merchandise.
Keep a list of all of the things you need for your garden and periodically check your favorite home and garden stores for these items. You could also set alerts to your favorite online companies for lower prices on the garden supplies that you need to purchase. By the time spring is here and we’re ready to work in the garden, you might have been able to gather most of the supplies you need.
Create some new garden art for the upcoming season
Winter is a great time to work on your yard decor. If you like to craft and make things then this is the perfect indoor winter activity. Here are a few things to make this winter:
- Build or purchase a new birdhouse to paint and decorate
- Create some new garden signs to hang in your yard this spring
- Make some stepping stones to use in your garden
- You can make a birdfeeder by gluing a teacup to a saucer and then attach it to a spindle or post
- Make a garden chime with vintage silverware
- Craft a new spring wreath for your garden shed
- Decorate terracotta pots to use in your garden
- Make a chalkboard for your garden shed from an old tray
Get outdoors when possible to do some early season gardening chores
There are certain garden activities that need to be done in the colder months. Late winter is a good time to prune dead branches from your shrubs and trees. Hold off on pruning your fruit and ornamental trees until late February or March. But be sure to prune them before they start to bud out. Also be careful pruning your spring flowering shrubs. You want to wait until after they bloom or you could lose many of their flowers. So wait on pruning your forsythia, lilacs, quince, spirea, and weigela until after they have finished their bloom.
Another outdoor chore would be to regularly turn your compost if you have a composting bin. Compost is such a great enhancer to your garden soil. If you’ve not created a composting area, then now is the time to get started. Decide on where you want your composting container to be. Research different styles of composters to determine your best option for your yard and garden. As long as you don’t have snow on the ground you can even build your composting structure.
A few other outdoor activities to do in the winter would be to keep your yard and garden free of dead branches. After a gusty storm you will find tree matter scattered everywhere. It’s a good idea to keep this picked up after each storm. This will minimize damage to your lawn and shrubs and it will also save you time in the spring when you need to start planting. Adding a new layer of mulch to protect your plants might also be needed periodically. And keep your birdfeeders filled regularly if you feed your local winter birds.
Craft some new plant markers for the upcoming season
It’s a good idea to have garden markers in your vegetable and herb gardens. Long-time gardeners will be able to identify their plants. However, it’s nice to have plants marked for visitors. Garden markers can also help you to identify types of plants. If you plant 3 varieties of tomatoes, for example, you might forget which is which. There are so many fun ways to create garden markers. You can use paint sticks like I did last year. Or explore Pinterest to find some other interesting markers.
For many of us, we are counting the days until we can get out into our gardens. But for now, consider working on one or more of these garden activities that don’t involve digging and planting. Most can be done indoors while we wait for spring to bloom.