I know we are all getting impatient for the gardening season to begin. The days are getting longer and we have had a few days here and there with mild temperatures that lure us out into the yard. With all the damage earlier in the winter and the heavy winds in January, it is pretty tempting to get out there and work. I am sorry to say it’s still a little early to do any pruning or digging in the garden.
Pruning for me starts around Valentine’s Day and for the two weeks following. If we start pruning too early, it will stimulate new growth. This may be okay if we don’t have any more cold weather, but with my poor record of predicting the weather, I’m not going to bet on anything. So instead of pushing the ticket, I will wait a couple more weeks to get the pruners out on the roses and hebes. Better a bit late than a bit too early.
Same thing with removing the mulch around the tender perennials. In fact, I let the plants tell me when I can pull that away from their trunks. Once I start to see some new growth, I very gently rake the mulch off the plants and put it in the compost pile. And when I say gently, I usually mean by hand or with a small hand-held claw tool. This can sometimes be as late as April. I know, patience, patience.
There are some things that will be very satisfying to do in the garden on a nice day, though. You can start pulling the little bittercress weed that is everywhere already. You know it, the small, rounded basal leaves that grow in a circle and are topped by tiny white flowers. By pulling it now, before it flowers, you can get ahead of it before it goes to seed and is more of a nuisance. Same with the buttercups and dandelions. At least the ground is a bit moist (to say the least), making weeds easier to pull.
Another chore is to pick up all the sticks and debris that blew down during the high winds. We generally get out and do this the morning after a storm and assess any damage in the process. Please note that if a branch has broken part way off a tree, any time is the right time to prune that. In fact, you can remove any wood you are certain is dead at any time, too.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t always get the potting shed cleaned out in the fall. So that would be another good task on a nice day. I take out everything – and I do mean everything- and place it in the yard so I can give the shed a good hosing down inside. Once it is dry, I take the time to sort through what came out and replace only the things I know I will need. All those extra pots will go to recycling or to friends or nurseries that want them. (Please call first, don’t just dump them off assuming someone wants them!) Broken pots go in a special place for use as filler in containers, or in the garbage.
If you still have time and energy, you can get your containers ready for spring. Clean off any inside or outside soil with a firm (but not wire) brush. A mild bleach solution of 1 part bleach to 9 parts water will get most of the salt stains off and disinfect the pots, too. I rinse mine thoroughly after the cleaning so there is no bleach residue left and then put them in the sun (if there is any) or at least out in the air to dry. Once the containers are completely dry you can store them back in the shed or garage until planting time.
And if this isn’t enough outside work for you, stop by a garden center and get a few primrose or pansies to plant now. When we first went to England in 1985, we stayed at a bed and breakfast in Cheddar. It was March and very cold and windy. But the blooming pansies gave a bit of color to an otherwise bleak landscape. When I commented about them, the gentleman who ran the B&B told me he considered them to be “brave little pansies…out in this awful weather” and I have never forgotten his description. Indeed, when it is cold and rainy, there is nothing to cheer me up like looking at the “faces” of my pansies.
Brave indeed.
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