Click below to listen to today’s Garden Bite: Don’t scratch that Garden Itch Yet:
I KNOW you’re itching to get out and start Spring Cleanup. Please, DON’T. I’ve been cringing as I watch people out raking and cutting back perennials. UGH…
This affects the insects and critters that have been sheltering in your “debris”. I know, a 74 degree day seems like it should mean “Go Time”. If this were May or even late April it would be, but this is early March 2024 and that means we can still have COLD and SNOW. Do you recall April 15th, 2018? I do…
I also have a photo of about a 10-inch snowfall in May, but I can’t find that one! Maybe it got buried… ha, get it? Yes, I went there. Sorry!
Also, traipsing around on your lawn is not good for the soil. It’s not ready for you, you can create more compaction and injure any new growth more than cold and/or snowfall. A friend of mine mentioned that over the weekend he saw a man MOWING his lawn – in WISCONSIN. ACK! Please, wait, your lawn will thank you. If you have snow piles in your landscape after April 15th, you can start raking out the SNOW piles so that they will thaw quicker.
Some trees and shrubs have already started budding out. Then we dropped to about 6 degrees. How will this affect them? If they survived the cold there’s still no guarantee that they won’t be stunted.
“But, Teri, I’m planning a graduation party and I can get a jumpstart on sprucing up my backyard!” It’s tempting, I know, but while it may look good for the party, it won’t stay that way.
Gardening is a long-game where Mother Nature rules. Most commercial nurseries still has their shrubs, trees and perennials covered!
Take a deep breath, go for a walk around your neighborhood, in a park, in the woods and calm down. Spring will arrive, you will be able to get out there when the time is right. And that’s not now.
Don’t scratch the itch (yet).