Time-savers: How to Get Ahead in the Garden
Make moves now and save time later… the craziness of spring and summer will soon be upon us. So, what can we do to make our future selves satisfied?
- Mulch before you need it. Springtime is a great time to be laying down your mulch. Get it down before the weeds establish. Those seeds easily establish when the sun is penetrating to the soil. All that said, there truly is no wrong time to mulch!
- Get your planting in now. You’ll give them a head start on root establishment and potentially better expansion, growing, or spreading come summer. Your groundcovers especially, will suppress opportunistic weeds, stabilize soil structure, and bolster the microbial communities!
- Watch how spring water moves. Spring rains reveal patterns in your landscape. Even if you’re new to observing stormwater, we encourage you to take a few minutes after a rain to watch where water collects, drains, or pools. Noticing these patterns can transform how you plan plantings, move earth, and conserve moisture.
- Divide perennials. This one doesn’t always come naturally because we don’t want to hurt our plants. But mature herbaceous perennials are tough, which gives us a chance to divide and conquer. Stick a shovel into the root ball and cut it in half or thirds. Backfill well around exposed roots and water in. It’s good to do a little research first on your species as some don’t like division, namely tap-rooters and sensitive or fragile root species. Good candidates include coneflowers, sunflowers, bee balm, asters, Liatris. There are some exceptions within this family and they’re generally the shade-loving, slow and steady growers. This is how you get FREE plants and build consistent clumps of perennial species throughout the landscape.