Gardening: Late Winter/Early Spring Task List

The snow is finally melting and the robins can be seen searching for worms and other tasty morsels. It is now time to return to the task of outdoor gardening. What gardener can resist the tempting allure of that first warm day? Here is a list of tasks that must be done before the frenzy of the planting season begins.

Lawn and Garden Power Tool Tune-Up: Time to get those lawn mowers, chainsaws, and weed trimmers tuned up and ready for use. If you didn’t do it last fall, drain the gas and put in fresh stuff. Add a fuel stabilizer to your last can of gas that you buy to avoid this step in the future. Clean the mower top and bottom to remove all the build up dirt and grass that you should have been removing after each mowing. Sharpen or replace the blade on the mower and the chain on the chainsaw. Replace the sparkplugs at the interval specified in the manual. Never read the manual and now its lost? Just replace the plug anyway because it's easy and only costs a couple bucks. Make sure your weed trimmer has enough string to get you well into the season and replace it if necessary.

Don’t Forget Those Lawn and Garden Hand Tools Too: Scrape all that built-up caked-on dirt from your shovels, forks, and hoes. Get them nice and clean to assess them for replacement. Sharpen the shovels and trowels with a metal file. Just remember, you don’t need to slice tomatoes so you want it “blunt” sharp not razor sharp. Your trimmers and shears, on the other hand, should be quite sharp every time you cut. This is especially important when cutting out those diseased branches and stems. The cleaner the cut, the faster the tree will heal. After you have them clean and sharp, use some WD-40 or 3-in-1 oil on the joints. You can also coat the blades with a very light coating to inhibit rust. If you want a non-toxic solution, wipe them down with a very thin coating of mineral oil.

Roam the yard: Pick up all those twigs and branches that fell during those winter storms and get out those rakes to clean up the leaves that you didn’t get to in the fall. If you don’t have a compose pile, consider installing one in a secluded corner of the yard. Its a great way to avoid filling those paper sacks of yard waste and those extra trips to the dump. Take some time to appreciate all the crocus, daffodils and tulips popping up around the yard. If you don’t have any, remember to plant some this fall. Take a look at all the trees and shrubs to see which ones are in desperate need of pruning. Look for signs of winter injury or disease. Any plants that are severely diseased as well as trees that are damaged to the point that they pose a safety risk should be removed. Others should be pruned to remove dead, diseased or crossing branches, and then pruned to thin and shape the tree into an attractive healthy form.

Inspect the Hardscape: While you are roaming the yard, take stock of the condition of the hardscape features. Did the winter wind and snow blow down a section of fence? Is a fence post rotten? Does your shed need repair or replacement? Are those field stones in your walkway heaved up out of the ground causing a tripping hazard? Do you need to install any new garden beds? Make a list of all the work that will need to be done so you can prioritize them.

Think spring: Make a visit to your local seed supplier to see if there are any plants you want to start from seed. I find that this is also a good way to get ideas for what established plants I want to buy come April/May. By this time of year, most places even have their summer-flowering bulbs and tubers out.

Get dirty: As the month moves on and the soil starts to thaw you can start to transplant or divide. With most things still dormant, you can transplant them without having to worry about babying them. Once the night temperatures are at or above freezing consistently, you can plant snow peas, snap peas, cabbage, kale, broccoli, radishes and any other cold season crops. Garden beds, trees, and shrubs can have a 1/4 to 1/2 inch top-dressing of compost. One word of caution though, don’t put any manure products on fruit/vegetable beds. This can contaminate your food with e-coli.

Now that winter is finally ending, get out there and soak up the warm spring sun. Breath some of that fresh cool air. Get excited about the long days spent getting covered with dirt that are in the very near future.