Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Tiptoe into Spring garden clean-up
As we tiptoe into Spring, we’re gingerly getting into our gardens, cutting back the leftovers from winter. I do say tip toe for a couple of reasons… soggy, muddy soil, which compacts!
Step lightly and start pruning. I cut back my ornamental grasses to about 3 inches from the ground. You can compost those grasses or save them as mulch in your vegetable garden.
If you had issues with fungal disease on any of your perennials last year, then clean up the foliage as best as possible.
I’ve got lots of spring work for my Butterfly garden, in particular since the City will be working on my streets, I live on the corner and they’re doing both!
We northern gardens are a hardy bunch, which also means we can’t wait to get outdoors and do stuff! Consider cleaning out those pots you’ll be planting with annuals, perhaps you’ve got a bench to build? Or maybe an opportunity to create some art for your garden?
If the weather permits, you could very lightly, with a large toothed plastic rake, remove the leaves you didn’t get to last year. Put them in your compost pile.
Don’t till any ground right now. In fact, it would be awesome if you didn’t till at all, but I know that in some cases it’s a necessity. That’s okay. You can always add organic matter.