Preparing The Vegetable Garden For Spring


spring vegetable gardening

For the keen gardener the Spring season just cannot come quick enough! The long dark winter nights suddenly start to stretch out and the first snowdrops and other early bulbs, begin to poke their way through the melting snow.

Suddenly the garden begins to come alive, and our thoughts immediately turn to preparing the growing beds and the multitude of tasks to be done. Raised Beds, Straw Bales and Containers all have to be prepared for occupation!

Of course if we have organised ourselves over the winter months, everything from now on will operate like a well-oiled machine! It’s just as likely however, that other things have occupied our minds and now we are frantically thumbing through the seed catalogues and clearing out the greenhouse.

Good organisation as every gardener knows is the key to success when it comes to getting the best results from the vegetable garden – or any other garden for that matter.
With that in mind, here extracted from my latest book on Spring Gardening is a list of 11 top jobs to be done if you want to increase your chances of ‘veggie success’ during this coming spring/summer season.

Extract From ‘Gardening Tips For Spring’

1: Clean the greenhouse glass whilst access is easy. Clean away any whitener you have used to shade the plants during the hot summer of last year, and remove any old vines etc that are blocking the light.

Clear out any spiders and other critters with a stiff brush, then spray the area with a mixture of peppermint oil and water to keep them away. 15-20 drops peppermint oil to a hand sprayer filled with water will suffice.
Do the same with cold-frames that you may be using.

2: Dig out and check your greenhouse heaters and any other electrical equipment you may be using, to be sure they are fully operational and there is not any broken leads or exposed wiring.
I once almost killed myself when I used an electric drill which I had not noticed had a split in the cable – a truly shocking experience that would have never happened if I had properly checked it beforehand.
It would also have never happened if I had used an RCD (Residual Current Device) to trip the power supply! Hmmm

3: Clear away any drainage ditches and guttering that may have become clogged with falling debris over the winter. Put the old organic material straight into the compost pile.

composting bins from pallets
Super-effective composting bins made from old pallets.

4: Fence and trellis repairs are also best done at this time, before the weeds and foliage have time to grow and make access difficult.

5: If you have bare ground that you are not intending using for a few weeks or months, cover it over with black plastic or weed fabric.
This will make it so much easier to manage when the time comes to start planting it out – and save you having to weed it .

6: If your soil has a ph level below 6.2, then it will benefit from the addition of lime to balance it out. Add Dolomite lime (the finest grind) 3-4 weeks before planting out, then cover over with plastic to prevent runoff.

7: Now is also the time to give the lawn a good raking out to remove any rubbish that has gathered, and to allow air and sunlight to the new growth.
Bare spots can be repaired by adding some grass seed to a bucked of topsoil or potting mix, then scattering over the bald patch.

training fruit trees

8: Apply Horticultural oil spray to fruit trees and shrubs just as the buds begin to swell. Do this ten days or so later to control pear leaf blister mite and pear psylla. Apply oil spray to pears just as the buds begin to swell and then again 10 days later to control pear psylla and pear leaf blister mite.
Apply this Dormant oil to fruit trees or shrubs that have a history of aphid, spider mite or scale infestations.

9: Early Spring is generally the last chance to prune the fruit trees before they begin to blossom. Later than this can result in stress to the plant and a subsequent loss of fruit.

10: Growing Asparagus? This is one of the earliest crops in the ‘traditional’ vegetable garden. The early spring is the time to clear away any old dead material, and fertilize to encourage the new growth as soon as the Asparagus shoots appear.
A balanced fertilizer containing equal amounts of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, is ideal for Asparagus.

11: Finally, check all your hand tools. Sharpen the blades and oil the working parts. If you didn’t have the lawnmower serviced before you put it away do it now – before you need it to work!

For a more detailed account of what needs to be done to best improve your Spring Gardening efforts, then check out my latest book.
Here you will find essential information on subjects like ..

  • Preparing the ground or growing medium before you even begin to start planting these precious seeds! Topics covered include Hot Bed Gardening methods – to get a real early start.
  • Choosing your plants according to the appropriate plant hardiness zones, and the conditions best suited for them.
  • Seed Propagation and care. How to prepare and protect your young seedlings from weather and pests.
  • Companion planting friends and foes! Make sure you plant your veggies alongside other plants that will give them the best chance of success – nobody likes a playground bully!

Spring gardening is great fun and is a real ‘Season of Promise.’ A time to look forward to the coming harvest of early spring salads, roots and herbs – as long as you are properly prepared! Click on the links below to get prepared this Spring!

Gardening Tips For Spring (USAOpens in a new tab.) (UKOpens in a new tab.)

James

Best Selling author of several no-dig gardening books, James has over 40 years of gardening knowledge and experience to share with like-minded gardening enthusiasts.

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