Bye Bye Winter, Say Hello to your Spring Garden

Spring is here…or so we hope! Now the time to get reacquainted with your garden by listening to the story it has to tell of the winter months, so that you can turn your spring planting into a summer of beautiful blooms.

The snow is gone, at last, but was it really so bad for our gardens? In flower beds, especially for your perennials, it actually acted as a blanket: cold and frosty on top, but insulated on the bottom. Some of your plants may have benefitted from this, but others may still need a little help to perk up. Hellebores are just waiting to show their blooms, but you can help them by cutting back the tired older leaves to enable the magic of plant rejuvenation. You can begin planting hardy perennials, but be wary of tender plants as frost may still be in the air.

Were you wise enough to shred and add your fall leaves to your beds as mulch before the snow? Excellent! You can now turn this into your soil and let it act as a fantastic compost. If your leaves stayed behind and were trapped by the snow, now is the time to pull them away from your plants. Let them breathe the spring air and absorb the glowing sunlight. You can also divide your perennials now before they get too tall, and put stakes around some of your taller plants such as peonies that will need the support later.

Make sure not to work your soil if it is still too wet. A good ol’ gardening trick is this: if you can squeeze soil in the palm of your hand and it keeps its shape, it is too wet. If it safe for planting, the soil should crumble when you open your hand.

Spring is also great time to get a jump start on weeds, they are easy to pull now as their roots are shallow. Mulching will also help to control weeds, 3 or 4 inches of depth will do the trick, but be careful not to pile it high around tree trunks.

If you are planning a vegetable garden, there are cold loving plants that can be seeded now: peas, leeks, collards, kale, lettuce and spinach are ideal. Many can be succession seeded for a continuous harvest all season.

Forsythias blooming is one of the first signs of spring with soil temperatures warming and a great signal that it might be time to fertilize! But check your pH first. You can purchase a kit, or check with your local Master Gardener extension for advice and recommendations of fertilizer application. Typically, plants prefer a pH between 6 and 7.

Another telling bloomer that spring is here: the iris. Some of the earliest blooms will appear in April, particularly the miniature irises, with the larger tall bearded irises following suit in May and June. Irises like to be fertilized at this time of year, but first they need to be groomed by removing debris and trimming back older leaves. Irises need the warmth of the air and sun, and don’t like to be covered by a large amount of mulch.

Fun Fact: did you know that irises clone themselves? This is how some of the same irises have been around for centuries! Come see these glorious blooms for yourself at the Essex County Presby Memorial Iris Gardens, 474 Upper Mountain Ave., Upper Montclair, NJ. Bloom season starts May 9th on National Public Gardens Day. You can visit the website www.presbyirisgardens.org for full details on events and iris plant sales.