Top 5 Spring Gardening Tips (Including our fave fertilizer recipe!)
Spring is peeking around the corner and with it comes all the fun spring time garden work. I rounded up our Top 5 Spring Gardening Tips to make it easy peasy to get your raised beds and cutting gardens fresh and ready for planting!
Get Moving
This is the BEST time to move most plants. (Unless it’s a Spring bloomer…wait to move these in the fall.) Don’t be afraid to dig them up, especially if last year you noticed them not growing that well in their current spot. We’re dividing hostas, moving day Lillies and roses. I have an ongoing list on my phone that I jot notes on during the summer. As plants mature and fill out the different beds I’ll jot down if one of them is getting too big, or doesn’t quite fit anymore because it’s HARD to remember that when the plants have all died back!
If you’re planning to move plants do a little Google search to refresh your memory on the best practices for moving that particular plant. Some plants are picky. ;)
Pull the Weeds!
I know this seems like an ‘of course’ DUH thing to do…but seriously. Now’s the time to weed. For us PNW gardeners, the dirt is nice and soft from all of the winter rains so it’s easier to get the entire weed out. PLUS the weeds are small right now. If you wait until the Spring sunshine starts hanging around more the weeds will be stronger and they’ll have spread! And to top it all off this is the easiest time to see them. Since the plants have mostly died back it’s much easier to get to the weeds. Do yourself a favor and go weed!
Mulch
While the plants are still small and cut back put a nice layer of mulch down. It’s easy to spread right now, plus the spring rains will help transfer the nutrients from the mulch into the soil!
Start your Vegetables
I have a standing date on our calendar each year to start our vegetable seeds. For us here in the Seattle area I start our tomatoes mid March and the zucchini and cucumbers late March. Even though we can direct sow zucchini and cucumbers, we like to have a jump start on the growing season. Pull your calendar out and set a date for you and your seeds!
We have a ‘green house’ set up in our garage by the window complete with:
Biodegradeable Plant Pots - we’re giving these a try this year! I’ve heard mixed reviews but wanted to see if these would help the plants transfer better to the garden. I’ll keep you posted!
Garden Fertilizer Recipe!
The best way to grow healthy vegetables is to start with healthy soil. Here’s the recipe we use to rejuvenate our garden beds. Our master gardener neighbor passed this recipe on to us and now we get to share it with you!
1/2 part lime (try to find or make an equal mix of soil sweet and super sweet, check out your local garden center)
In raised beds, rake in or shallowly hoe in 1 to 2 gallons of complete organic fertilizer uniformly spread atop each 100 square feet of growing area before sowing or planting.
