Spring has officially sprung. With the vernal equinox, many of us are looking forward to the mild, albeit wet, weather to come. Gardeners are already preparing themselves for the growing season ahead and while it’s too early to do a lot of planting, there are many things that still need to be done.
Venice Williams, executive director of Alice’s Garden, shares her advice on how to best prepare your garden this spring.
1. Start with handscaping, not landscaping
"Start with looking at your fence and checking out your stepping stones, taking inventory of those accessories and maybe necessities that really contribute to the beauty and maybe the safety for your garden and for your plants."
2. Oil and sand tools
"A lot of people over look sanding the wooden handles of their tools. Then they get splinters and the handles are really rough when they need, the most often, to be smooth."
3. Clean out the bird bath
"I use some warm water and some tea tree essential oil and I mix it up maybe some peppermint and give them a nice clean presence for all of those birds that are migrating back this time of year."
4. Start a new compost pile
"We think about compost in the autumn quite a bit and obviously throughout the summer when we're adding to it. If you're not a composter normally, as you're cleaning up your garden, you could start your spring cleaning."
5. Starting some of those seedlings
"We live in Wisconsin and the seasons aren't always predictable. Sometimes we start our seedlings too soon, and they get way too leggy." Things like your greens, Williams says, you can start inside and put those in the ground towards the end of March and throughout April.
6. Go to a seed exchange or swap
Williams says this is the time of year when many local organizations are doing seed exchanges and seed swaps.
"Reach out to your local organization like Victory Garden Initiative and Groundworks Milwaukee and see if they have some seed exchanges that you can take part in."
7. Read some books about garden projects
Williams recommends a book called Projects for Small Gardens: 56 Projects With Step-by-Step Instruction.
"It's a book of 56 projects and it has foldout pages and step by step instructions on how to create some new, delightful areas for your garden. It is by Richard Bird and George Carter and it is a great take it to bed with you book."
