Top 10 spring gardening chores
Thursday, May 1, 2008 12:14 AM PDT
By Marianne Binetti
For The Daily News
Printable version
E-mail this articleSpring is here and so are the Top 10 spring garden chores. These are the tasks that will save you time and money and are an investment in future beauty and summer bounty.
1. Rake or clear the lawn.
Those wind-torn tree branches, cedar bough tips and giant maple leaves are blocking light to your winter-weary lawn. Even if you don't care about the health of your lawn, you should be worried about the health of your lawn mower. Mowing over last summer's rusty garden tools and fallen tree limbs will ruin a mowing machine.
2. Sharpen and tune up your mowing machine.
Even people-powered push mowers need to be sharpened, aligned and oiled for spring use. Power mowers need an oil change and tune up to keep them efficient and even electrical mowers need new-season maintenance. Read that owner's manual. Hiring a professional to tune up and sharpen your mower is a mowing investment.
3. Mow the lawn.
You'll be amazed at how sharp your lawn will look after that first spring hair cut especially if you use a freshly sharpened mower.
4. Fertilize the lawn.
The days are longer. The grass is waking up. Those roots are as hungry as a bear coming out of hibernation. In fact they are just like a bear coming out hibernation. Ravenous. A spring feeding will help the grass crowd out young weeds.
5. Edge the lawn.
It's spring. Get ambitious and don't just trim the lawn edges but finish the job and sweep the walkways and patio after you're done making the mess.
6. Time to clean the beds.
Just take it one bed at a time. Spread out an old tarp, blanket or sheet nearby and toss all weeds, dead plant parts and sliced slugs onto the tarp.
For some of us it is easier to hit a large target like a tarp or sheet then it is to haul around a bucket or wheelbarrow. If you want to practice division of labor, have on person pull and pile up the weeds and debris and the other gets to collect the piles and haul them to the compost pile or recycling bin.
7. Details, details, details
Clean out the gutters, sweep off the front porch and patios and add the gunk to your pile of weeds and winter-weary plant parts. There's a reason they call it spring cleaning.
8. Bait, spray or slice up the slugs.
If you have hosta or primroses you can bet these plants served as slimy love shacks all winter long and the baby slugs are just now venturing out to devour their favorite plants. Look under logs, flower pots and bricks for pearl-like clusters of slug eggs while you're at. Squish the slug eggs but don't destroy any shiny black beetles you meet on the hunt. These are the good guys that started the first Easter Egg hunts for slug eggs.
9. Improve your soil.
Add compost around perennials, layer compost over your vegetable garden and load up compost around the ankles of your roses.
If you don't have compost you buy it in sacks from nurseries and even some grocery stores. Use bark chips as a mulch instead of compost around established trees and shrubs. Do this now and you'll have less weeding, less watering and less feeding all year long.
10. Finally, the last spring thing on your 'to-do' list is ... look around.
The grass is green again, trees and shrubs are blooming, bulbs are showing off and despite the sometimes cold and wet weather new life, new beginnings and a fresh start are here. Spring is all around and all you have to do is take a moment to stop, look and really see.
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