With spring quickly approaching, you'll be knee-deep in a flurry of activity as you tend to your garden through the rebirth of its plants from seed. Take advantage of the season's relative quiet to get your gardening plans in order.
Get Your Summer Seeds Ready And Look At Your Trees
The task of ordering bulbs and seeds for summer flowers is perfect for a cold, windy day in the dead of winter. You can place an order for early spring planting of lilies, gladioli, and ranunculus all through the winter.
You should also have a look at the trees in your garden too. What could they do with being trimmed or maybe, even more, to allow light to come into your garden in the summer? If you can't trim them yourself, organize a tree lopping service to do it for you.
Get Your Greenhouse Cleaned Up And Organized!
Now is the moment to clean your greenhouse from top to bottom in anticipation of spring's seedlings and cuttings. Use a disinfectant or detergent to clean the outside of your greenhouse to get rid of algae, moss, and other debris. During the growth season, more light will penetrate as potential pest and disease habitats are removed. Overwintering pests and viruses can dwell in even the slightest of cracks, so it's important to clean the inside of the glass as well.
The garden should be swept clean of any accumulated plant debris and disinfected with a hot solution of a gardening disinfectant. To prevent diseases like "damping off" from spreading to your young plants, clean seed trays and pots while you're at it. Be sure your greenhouse has adequate ventilation in the following days to guarantee thorough drying.
When you have cleaned your greenhouse thoroughly, you should inspect it for broken glass or vents and replace them as necessary.
Plant The Items That Need A Longer Season To Flourish
In the months of January and February, you can begin sowing the seeds of plants like geraniums, begonias, antirrhinums, peppers, and aubergines that need a longer growing season. A heated propagator or equivalent is required to ensure healthy development from the get-go.
Track Down And Get Rid Of Pests
You can avoid a lot of hassle in the spring and summer if you find the bugs now that are hibernating and get rid of them. Check the crowns of your perennials for slug, snail, and aphid colonies that may be hibernating for the winter.
Before you get rid of the summer bedding from the pots from last year, make sure you don't have any white-vine-weevil larvae, which live in the compost and consume plant roots. Control the vine weevil population this year by using chemical drenches or releasing parasitic nematodes, and getting rid of any larvae you find.
Look At All The Wooden Areas In Your Garden
Those bothersome little repairs are easiest to complete during the colder months. Check the fence, gates, and trellis for any signs of degradation or damage from the elements. To save time gardening this spring and summer, mend any broken structures immediately. Fix the broken parts or structures.
Next, pressure wash the fence and gates to remove grime, moss, and mildew. Use a stiff brush to help loosen embedded grime for removal. After the wood has dried completely, add two layers of stain, paint, or wood preserver.
Clearly, there is much to do this season. If you get everything on the list done before spring arrives, you won't have to worry about missing a beat.
*Photo by Sergey Shmidt on Unsplash
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