SPRING GARDEN CLEAN UP - Part II
Take out that leaf rake again and a garden rake also. You’ll be needing both of them.
In early spring, remove by hand any of the winter mulch you may have covered your plants with last fall. Do this gently as you do not want to damage the newly sprouted perennials hiding under the mulch.
Begin raking the flower beds with the leaf rake to remove all the leaves, twigs, litter etc that have accumulated over the winter. Add those rakings to your compost pile.
Now that you can see what plants are up, you can begin removing last year’s dead growth to ground level. Do this with hand pruners being careful not to disturb or remove any new growth or green stems. That debris should also end up on the compost pile
Next it is time to do what you’ve been waiting for all winter – weed! Not sure what is a weed and what is a perennial? Then it is better to err on the side of caution and leave it until you are sure.Again, put the weeds on the compost pile.
Give the bed another rake, this time using your garden rake. It will remove the more stubborn leftovers from last year. But please, do use it gently.
Now that the flower beds are all cleaned up, it is time to edge them. This will give the gardens a nice clean definition and professional look. Edging simply involves removing one or two inches of lawn around the flower garden. There are a couple of tricks that make the task easier. First you must use a sharp square spade or a turf edger. Both work equally well as long as they are sharp. Standing on the lawn facing your garden, being removing one inch of lawn. Do this by inserting the spade or edger straight down in the lawn. I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to go straight down. You do not need to go very deep, just deep enough to remove the grass’ roots as well as the sod. The second cut should overlap the first one slightly. Continue this until the whole bed is complete. You’ll find it becomes easier with each cut as you develop a rhythm. All done? Great, now go around and pick up all those little strips of sod and add them to the compost pile.
Over the winter the soil in your beds may have compacted somewhat. Time to loosen it up a bit. Using a cultivator, go through the bed and gently scuffle up the dirt. Don’t go too deep, you just want to fluff up the surface soil.
On to the last step – adding mulch. Starting at the back of the bed and working forward, apply the mulch at least two inches thick, three is ideal, four is too much. Keep the mulch one inch away from the bases of your plants as you do not want to smother them. Once they are in full leaf, you won’t even notice the mulch doesn’t go right up to the stems. Take the mulch right up to that nice clean edge you made, but don’t let it spill over into the lawn. In a heavily planted bed I prefer to spread mulch with my (gloved) hands, I find it gives me more control than a rake.
You may need to add a bit of mulch throughout the growing season or refresh it by turning it with a cultivator.
Take out that leaf rake again and a garden rake also. You’ll be needing both of them.
In early spring, remove by hand any of the winter mulch you may have covered your plants with last fall. Do this gently as you do not want to damage the newly sprouted perennials hiding under the mulch.
Begin raking the flower beds with the leaf rake to remove all the leaves, twigs, litter etc that have accumulated over the winter. Add those rakings to your compost pile.
Now that you can see what plants are up, you can begin removing last year’s dead growth to ground level. Do this with hand pruners being careful not to disturb or remove any new growth or green stems. That debris should also end up on the compost pile
Next it is time to do what you’ve been waiting for all winter – weed! Not sure what is a weed and what is a perennial? Then it is better to err on the side of caution and leave it until you are sure.Again, put the weeds on the compost pile.
Give the bed another rake, this time using your garden rake. It will remove the more stubborn leftovers from last year. But please, do use it gently.
Now that the flower beds are all cleaned up, it is time to edge them. This will give the gardens a nice clean definition and professional look. Edging simply involves removing one or two inches of lawn around the flower garden. There are a couple of tricks that make the task easier. First you must use a sharp square spade or a turf edger. Both work equally well as long as they are sharp. Standing on the lawn facing your garden, being removing one inch of lawn. Do this by inserting the spade or edger straight down in the lawn. I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to go straight down. You do not need to go very deep, just deep enough to remove the grass’ roots as well as the sod. The second cut should overlap the first one slightly. Continue this until the whole bed is complete. You’ll find it becomes easier with each cut as you develop a rhythm. All done? Great, now go around and pick up all those little strips of sod and add them to the compost pile.
Over the winter the soil in your beds may have compacted somewhat. Time to loosen it up a bit. Using a cultivator, go through the bed and gently scuffle up the dirt. Don’t go too deep, you just want to fluff up the surface soil.
On to the last step – adding mulch. Starting at the back of the bed and working forward, apply the mulch at least two inches thick, three is ideal, four is too much. Keep the mulch one inch away from the bases of your plants as you do not want to smother them. Once they are in full leaf, you won’t even notice the mulch doesn’t go right up to the stems. Take the mulch right up to that nice clean edge you made, but don’t let it spill over into the lawn. In a heavily planted bed I prefer to spread mulch with my (gloved) hands, I find it gives me more control than a rake.
You may need to add a bit of mulch throughout the growing season or refresh it by turning it with a cultivator.
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