Ten Spring Gardening Tips for Outdoor Gardens

Spring is just around the corner and planting time will be here sooner than you think. Although most of us are freezing right now, it is time to start thinking about getting the garden ready for planting. Here are ten spring gardening tips for outdoor gardens.

Prepare planting beds in spring as soon as the ground can be worked. Wait for a thaw and then till. Be sure that the soil is dry enough to work. Tilling waterlogged soil will do more harm than good. The soil should be moist enough to form a clump but not wet. No water should ooze out when the clump is squeezed.

Once the soil has been tilled under, cover it with black plastic mulch. Black plastic will warm the soil and allow for earlier planting in a spring garden. A great choice for black plastic mulch is Eco-One Oxo Degradable plastic mulch from Robert Marvel. This product will biodegrade over time; no need to pull it up and replace it every year. Use earth staples to keep the mulch in place. You can purchase these from Gardener's Supply.

In most areas of the US, peas can be planted as early as St. Patrick's Day. In the south you can go as early as mid February. Sprout the peas indoors, add soil innoculant, and pick an early variety of snow peas to start. Oregon Sugar Pod is one of my favorites for an early spring garden. Both of these items are available online from Burpee. The advantage of starting with snow peas is that the young plants are resistant to frost damage, more so than garden peas or snap peas.

Once the earliest cold hardy plants are set out in the ground, a row cover will ensure their safety in case of a late cold snap or frost. A row cover will allow planting of warm weather crops earlier. Row covers can add 2 weeks to the season in spring and in fall. For northern gardeners this may be the difference of harvesting a crop or not. A good choice is a garden quilt from Gardener's Supply listed above. Row covers are a must have item for spring gardeners.

For gardeners that want to plant as early as possible outdoors and have some cash to invest, a small 4 foot x 6 foot Fast-Start Greenhouse is the way to go. Pricing starts at $699.00. The small footprint allow it to fit almost anywhere. With a small greenhouse like this, a gardener can start warm weather vegetables like tomatoes outdoors in early spring or grow lettuce and cool weather crops all winter. Flower gardeners and plant collectors can over-winter their cold sensitive plants in one of these for guaranteed frost free protection.

Spring gardeners should start a compost pile now. See my article How to Prevent Toxic Compost for detailed compost information. Use leaves and garden debris to start. Add trimmings from frost damaged plants, kitchen scraps (no meat, cheese or oily items), coffee grinds, unbleached coffee filters, unprinted paper towels, and plan non-coated paper plates. The compost pile will begin to heat up on its own; there is no need to add a compost starter. To aid in decomposition, throw in a shovel full of garden soil. The compost will be ready by late spring to early summer.

Starting a new spring garden? Try raised beds. There will be no need to dig or till. One can be built out of wood, garden ties, or cinder block. Lay out the space, no larger than 8 feet x 4 feet and cover with old newspapers. The newspapers should be several layers deep. Do not use the shiny catalog inserts and do not use pressure treated wood. Build the 8 x 4 box over the newspapers. Fill with high quality garden soil or purchased topsoil. Cover with black plastic until planting time.

An economic way to protect a few individual plants in a spring garden from frost or to start a few plants earlier outdoors is to use one-gallon milk containers. Cut off the bottoms and save the lids. Put your plants in the ground and cover. Remove the lids when the temperatures rise above 55 degrees. Replace the lids at night and when it is below 55.

Compare prices from one catalog to the next. This goes for seeds, plants, and gardening supplies. It is amazing to see how much prices can vary. Also check out discount websites to see if there are coupons or deal codes to use. Red Plum is one place to look.

Plan the spring garden before planting. Make a list of what will be planted and where. Map it out on graph paper. This will avoid the costly mistake of buying more than you have room for.

Spring gardens are a lot of fun. They offer color and greenery at a time when all of us are tired of winter. These ten spring gardening tips for outdoor gardens should help make your spring garden a success.

To read more articles on gardening by this author click on the links below:

The Best Herbs for Container Gardening

Phalaenopsis Orchid Care and Information

A Guide to Yellow Orchids

Alstromeria Sweet Laura: Fragrance at Last

How to Prevent Toxic Compost

Sources:

Burpee.com

RobertMarvel.com

Gardeners Supply

Red Plum