Getting down and dirty in the garden can be rewarding and good for your health. While its best to leave the big projects to the pros, there are many garden activities (planting flowers and veggies, for instance) anyone can do to get their yard ready for spring and summer.
Before you put your hands in the soil, however, NJ HOME offers a few helpful hints (with tidbits from Borst Landscape & Design in Allendale) that’ll help your garden stay healthy, happy and full of blooms all season long.
Whether you’re a gardening newbie who’s making it your mission to beautify your yard or you’re a long-time expert who puts a lot of effort into your lawn each year, you’ll find the following hints and reminders helpful:
Clean your garden. Spring cleaning isn’t just an annual indoor ritual; it should be done outside as well. Take a stroll through your yard and remove any debris, weeds or dead or wet leaves. Cut back any perennials that weren’t cut in fall: Liriope, Carex, and ornamental grasses—just to name a few. Wash all your planters so they don’t attract bugs, and scour your lawn for mold and fungus, which pose risks to healthy grass, according to Borst. Take inventory of your gardening supplies and pottery so you know what you might need to replace (some things you’ll want to have on hand are potting soils, weekly fertilizers, clippers and trowels). If you can’t do all the cleaning yourself (leave those large, wilted branches for the experts!), ask your landscaper or gardener how they can help.
Prepare the soil. You can start preparing your soil once the frost has lifted (you can check the last frost dates for your town in the Old Farmer’s Almanac, but the 2024 average for New Jersey is late April to early May). Winter hardens the soil, so you’ll need to loosen it up before you start planting. Dig about 8 inches deep to help loosen the topsoil and allow for more air and water to reach the roots. “If you’re doing a vegetable garden or a cutting garden, it’s best to till your soil,” Borst says. “This will prep it for the season ahead.”
Build a protective layer. Mulch will create a protective barrier on top of the soil which helps conserve water, reduce the growth of weeds and protect plants. Mulch also helps plants thrive, especially if you add nutrients to it or to the soil.
Fertilize the soil. Fertilizing sooner rather than later ensures the plants will be healthy as they grow back in. To do this, our expert recommends digging little holes 2 feet apart from the drip line, making sure the holes are two inches deep and filling them up with fertilizer.
Start mowing. Mow your lawn as soon as it needs a trim, which can be as early as the minute you’re done reading this post. Grass blades do best when you cut no more than a third of the blade’s length at a time, so don’t wait until the grass is overgrown.
Make room. Whether you’re using pots, boxes or an open bed of soil, seeds should be given ample space to grow and absorb water and nutrients; ideally you’ll leave about 2 to 3 feet per plant.
Need more help with your spring garden prep? Watch this video by the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station of Rutgers University, which explains how to start a New Jersey garden from scratch or how to make improvements to your pre-existing one.
What’s your spring landscape project? Tell us about it over on Instagram @njhomemag.