in my world.. plants like fluffy soil ...

and the problem with walking in the garden... too early.. is soil compaction .... so i recommend staying out of the garden proper..

which is not to say.. you cant walk the edges and do a lot of work out there ...

last years sacrificed leaves.. are a self made mulch.. to protect the plant from the vagaries of mother nature.. and early removal is not favored.. IMHO ... it is there to protect the more tender shoots which will be this years growth ...

all gardeners are delusional .. lol .. but i really think you are pushing the envelop ... in z6 on 2/18 .. to think winter is truly over ... i might be wrong.. but my plants will be protected until late march ...

if you are wrong.. you might have big problems...

work the edges and stay out of the garden proper... you know that.. and that is why you are looking for us to tell you otherwise .. lol ..

again.. think soil compaction.. rather than plants ...

ken

The main problem (including the Maine problem ;) in doing much work this time of year is that soil is still soggy and as Ken says, you don't want to compact it as well as getting big mud accumulations on your shoes/boots.

I am occasionally working on keeping cold-tolerant weeds picked around the edges of the garden, doing the cleanup I should have done in fall and checking on my seed pots in the coldframe. Then there's keeping the squirrels away from the bird feeder, a nearly full-time job.

Yea, agree with above - soil is still much too soggy to be walking/working in beds and the lawn. Cleaning the garage, organizing tools/equipment, etc. would be better chores to work on right now. :0)

or you can stand on large planks of wood, which is what I will be doing tomorrow, getting another lot of broad beans in the ground.

In addition to the soil compaction, I also worry about heaving of plants (though I am farther north than you) if I move them or cut back foliage. Like Eric, I do some weeding from the edges once the ground has thawed, but try to stay out of the garden itself until things are dry.

I had forgotten about the compaction end of things, but, on the other hand, I am trying to reason out why it is an issue. I was thinking that our garden was really dry. We have had very little in the way of precipitation over the last 3 months. Nothing like the usual snowfall we've had. I went by a local body of water today and it was pretty low. We do have between 15 and 20 mature trees circling our property and believe me they suck the moisture out of it. We also have a level lot that doesn't provide much in the way of low spots either. I filled up the watering can and watered a few things out there today.

But, aside from whether it is wet or dry, I guess I'm trying to understand why this time of year, makes a difference between other times of the year when the garden might be wet? I'm not disputing the suggestions, just trying to understand them. Walking in the garden beds, while trying to garden, is not something that I pay a lot of attention to, at any time of the year. I have laid down pavers for stepping stones at intervals in the most worked beds and use those to enter, and work from, but aside from that, I really don't give it a thought. I feel like I have to work in the garden and I can't always be too choosy about when. I'm not normally out there working in the rain or immediately afterward, though.

I am anticipating being busy with other priorities this spring and thought I might get a jump on things. I always leave all the perennials as is to overwinter, so all my clean up is in the spring. For instance, I already see rosettes of new foliage at the base of aquilegia, and thought cutting back the dead stems of last year's growth now would help me avoid looking at a mess in April if I have to be busy with other things.

I suppose moving perennials is pushing the envelope though. (g)

I wonder, how many do think about compaction and make a point of being careful about walking in their beds? And does anyone have a 'wet' garden right now?

Such an odd winter, despite all the mild weather, it seems like it's lasted a long time and I'm in more of a hurry for spring than usual. Odd.

I don't speak from experience but am guessing dormant roots aren't going to establish themselves in a new location until the weather warms anyway. Other than convenience (along with the itch to garden), I'm not sure what benefit there'd be in transplanting when the ground is still barely thawed.

I've been watching for any signs of early life from my perennials with this unusually warm winter and so far they're all behaving themselves. There's a single tiny new leaf on one of many lady's mantle plants. That's it. They know what to do and when to do it better than we do. I go walkabout and pick up stray oak leaves & other garden debris but other than that, I'm waiting until the end of March to begin the real spring clean-up.

Patience & meditation, Grasshopper.

You should be able to clip back your plants whenever you want. I know there are certain kinds of plants people like to wait until spring to trim because they want to know how far the stems died back on their own - but for the ones that are clearly dead, dead is dead. I cannot come up with a reason the plant would be damaged or even realize if you cut some of the dead stems off the top. The coldest months of winter are over so the insulation value is passed.

As for digging and moving, I'd wait 1 more month. Dryness is exactly the problem... you don't want to move perennials and have them be evaporating water, but no root systems to replenish that water.

gardenweed, yes, the convenience factor of moving plants now is what I've been tempted by, due to timing later won't be favorable for me to do it.

pizzuti, I thought someone might agree that cutting back dead garden debris would be fine, since many people actually cut it all back in the fall, and I don't normally. I do have a Butterfly Bush that I leave until spring and I will wait on that.

I guess the compaction issue is the one to be concerned about, walking in the beds to do the cutting, I think was what others are trying to point out. I have a lot of paths I can walk on and stay out of the beds to do a lot of the clean up. That will probably keep me busy for awhile and delay the digging.

Thanks..

I had forgotten about the compaction end of things, but, on the other hand, I am trying to reason out why it is an issue.
=====
because well trod upon sand ... my soil.. becomes cement in august ...

you have asked for concerns.. you have gotten a few ..

now go do whatever you want.. its your garden ... you do NOT need our permission ...

ken

Ken, I've always found, that what helps me make good decisions, is clear information on what to do, and why I should do it. My questions were for information and to understand how to apply the information to my own situation.

I appreciate everyone sharing their own experiences with me. That's why I post. The concerns raised were all pretty straight forward and easy to understand and apply to my situation, except the soil compaction. I wanted to understand that a little better, because it's been a long time since I thought about that. When I first started gardening I did think about it and I use raised beds, pathways and stepping stones in my beds, to avoid that. But it was good to review. Glad it was brought up.

Some of my questions didn't get answered, one being, why this time of year and not other times of year? And the answer I found, was there is no difference. Any time the ground is too wet, you should limit walking on it. And there is always a simple test to see if your soil is too wet to work. That was the information I was trying to clarify.

I found an article that is very helpful on the subject, link below.

Here is a link that might be useful: How and Why To Avoid Soil Compaction

Like you I have been itching to be in the garden with this lovely weather. I won't transplant/divide perennials yet because this up and down weather would heave them out and expose their roots. (I learned this the hard way in previous years.)

But there is plenty that you can do.

I have been trasplanting small trees. The rootballs are too heavy to heave and it's great to get this big job out of the way now.

I'm starting to cut things back, mostly because I never got around to it in the fall. Also starting to cut back the grasses because winter is almost over and I'm happy to lose the winter interest to get the job out of the way. I'm not cutting back any of the sensitive ones like clematis, buddleia, too early for them.

Pruning trees and shrubs can be done now.

I walk all over the grass when it's wet because I don't care about the lawn. However I would never do that in a garden bed. I also use 2x6 boards to lay on the soil if I want to work it when it's wet. Otherwise I stay on the path and work from there. I have dreamy loamy soil and I take care of it.

Thanks, gottagarden. I plan on cleaning up my grasses and perennials, too. I have one long border that is full of mostly perennials that is a raised bed that I can access most of it from pathways, without stepping in the bed itself. And the front perennial bed is bordered by the street and the driveway, walkway and lawn, so I can access quite a bit of that too without stepping into the bed.

I thought I would have my pruning done by now, but the person who was scheduled to help me with it this year, has had a sudden health issue and he is still unsure if he can do it. So I may have to do the pruning myself, adding to my time crunch.

I don't have a lot of lawn and can easily get around without stepping on it if I need to. Isn't that great that you have good soil. I think you are the first person on GW that I've heard say they actually are happy with their soil...lol. I'm not unhappy with mine. It is clay but on the loamy side too. I don't have drainage problems and it is not difficult to dig.

Our yard, is rarely wet. I have one walkway across the back of the house that puddles from the downspouts, probably because it is compacted there, but it is a mulched walkway and it is quickly absorbed. Other than that I can't remember seeing a puddle in the yard. It has to be all the mature trees around the property that just suck the moisture out of the soil.

My vegetable beds are raised too, and they are usually warmer and drier, sooner than the rest of the garden. It's such an unusual year, that I would like to try to get a jump on things. This entire week is supposed to be warm again and 60 on Friday.

Since you have raised veggie beds, you could try planting peas, spinach or lettuce, especially if you presprout them. You might end up with some really early veggies.

Babs, I was just on the Vegetable forum yesterday and I saw them discussing presprouting peas and I was thinking what a great idea. I actually left bok choy in the garden without pulling it last summer and it reseeded into the bed and I had a carpet of baby bok choy all fall, which we enjoyed. I'm wondering if any have overwintered. That's a great idea for spinach and lettuce too. Thanks for the encouragement. :-)

Oh, and I saw a Robin this morning....maybe they know something about when spring is going to arrive? (g)