Top 10 Things to Do in Your Garden

The songbirds are back. The temperatures are rising and daylight is significantly longer. Although the air is still a bit nippy, now is the time to get some important garden chores out of the way. The following is a simplified list of the top 10 things to target in your yard early in the spring.

1. Mulch unprotected plants. We are in Northeast Zone 6, with some warmer pocketing of Zone 7, which means the chance of frost continues until May 15. It is a good idea to mulch unprotected plants this year as a hard freeze after a prolonged snow cover/melt is particularly damaging. In the event of a frost warning in your area, mulch vulnerable plants with evergreen boughs or hay. Top dress roses and shrubs with composted cow manure (in bags available at a garden center), home-composted materials or other well-rotted manure.  Free chicken manure is available at the Poultry Farm on Goffle Road in Wyckoff; bring your own shovel and bags.

2. Begin sowing seeds from packets that say eight to 10 weeks indoors before transplanting outdoors.  (Snapdragons, tickseed, statice and verbenas, to name a few.)

3. Keep off soggy grass. The grass is very fragile this year, having been packed down with so much snow, then inundated with flooding rain. Frozen blades can break this year. It is not advisable to get out the rakes or do any aerating until the spikes are standing up and muddy areas have dried out. Next month will be the time to lay down fertilizers and seed as well to treat for pests, such as grubs.

4. Tune up and test gasoline-powered garden equipment: leaf blowers, edgers, tillers, lawnmowers, power trimmers. Brush off any dirt or debris from last season and sharpen the blades. Change the oils (transmission and engine) on riding lawnmowers and test the brakes. Change oil filters and fill with clean fuel. Simple maintenance now can save time and money at the peak of the summer, when shops are overloaded with repairs. Make sure your safety gear is in order and in one convenient place: earmuffs or plugs for hearing protection, safety glasses or goggles, garden boots, and several weights and lengths of gloves--organized on a shelf in a shed or a place in the garage with other gardening supplies. Check hoses and faucets for leaks or cracks.

5. Continue to prune dormant trees, taking out any dead or diseased wood, branches that cross or rub as well as wayward branches. Do not prune any trees that tend to bleed. Renewal prune shrubs that flower on new wood. Thin out a third of the oldest wood on shrubs, such as beautyberry and rose of Sharon, as well as shrubs grown for their colorful stems: red osier dogwood and Butterfly bush. A general rule of thumb is to prune summer blooming shrubs in early spring and spring blooming shrubs immediately after blooming. Most pruning should be completed by the end of July, as late pruning stimulates growth; the last thing you want to do is have new growth appearing in time for the harsh frosts of fall and winter.

6. Transplant young shrubs lacking well-established roots. Shrubs installed last fall are ideal candidates. If their buds show signs of swelling, it is better to wait until the early fall.

7. Control over-wintering pests with horticultural oil--also known as superior, supreme, dormant or summer oil--coating trees, shrubs and vines before the buds swell. The oil works by smothering pests, such as scale, aphids, mites and mealy bugs, and is environmentally acceptable.

8. Prune raspberries, blueberries, currants and fruit trees. Remove any dead, diseased or crossing branches. Cut any water sprouts or suckers from their bases as well as any weak or unproductive growth.   

9. Fertilize early flowering bulbs as soon as green shoots are two to four inches tall with slow-release 5-10-20 or 5-10-10. Make a plan for more colorful daffodils or tulips by sketching out bare spots in beds. 

10. Inspect indoor plants. Check indoor plants for signs of pests. Sticky leaves may mean mean mites, yellowing or discolored leaves may indicate over-watering … be sure to inspect them when they come home from the store and segregate new purchases for about two weeks to tell if they have any hidden problems. Try washing problems plants with warm, soapy water and isolating away from other healthy plants. If the problem persists for more than two weeks, place in a plastic bag and dispose of it in the trash. Do not put diseased material into compost heaps.

By the end of March, the garden soil will be wet and crumbly--a good time for tilling or turning over to aerate. You may also take leaves or other debris out of containers and use a garden fork to till that soil as well. 

Get ready for April!