Spring Gardening – Tips for Planting and Maintenance
Homeowners inevitably come down with “spring fever” once the weather warms up after a long cold winter and begint thinking about new planting. Here are some tips for creating and maintaining your garden during the spring:
- Prevent insect problems with strategic planting. Lawns, fruit trees and vegetable plants require full sun during the day. Reserve shady spots for shade-oriented plants.
- Prepare vegetable beds and rows by loosening the soil and mixing it with organic matter.
- Plant grapes and berries in late March or early April. If you are thinking of planting blueberries, make sure the soil is acidic and has good drainage.
- Divide and plant perennials. Water after planting and on an as-needed basis.
- Prune fruit trees every year to maintain their productivity and shape. Remove crowded or shaded branches as fruit-rot and leaf-spot pathogens thrive in dark, damp areas.
- If the temperature drops toward freezing, protect your plants with straw mulch or spun-bonded fabric.
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Garden Maintenance and Planning During the Summer
Summer is a good time for concentrating on maintenance and planning for your autumn garden and taking a break from planting. Here are some tips for summer gardening:
- Remove damaged, diseased or dead parts of your plants. You may prevent future problems as well as improving your plants’ appearance. Dieback in azaleas or rhododendrons should be pruned; it’s important to continue pruning until you discover living undamaged stem.
- Maintain soil moisture by mulching plants. Water stress can cause blossom end-rot on tomatoes due to calcium deficiency which can be temporarily relieved by applying calcium carbonate or calcium nitrate.
- Grass clippings prevent thatch, recycle fertilizer and return organic matter to the soil. Unless the grass gets too tall between mowings, you don’t need to remove grass clippings.
- Any plant material that remains in your vegetable garden post-harvest provides a habitat for disease and insects. Be sure to clean out your vegetable garden.
- Check with your state agricultural department to see whether they provide free soil analysis. They may also make recommendations for fertilizer and liming.
- In late July or early August, start preparing to plant your fall garden.
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