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How do you prepare your plants for spring?

5 years ago

I usually don't do too much. Last fall I mulched better than I normally do. The next 10 days we have a couple of nights it will get down to 30 degrees, but days are going to be mid 50's to 60. Is it too early to fertilize? Should I pull back the mulch from the plants a little? Anything you would suggest?

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signet_gw(6b)

5 years ago

last modified: 5 years ago

I dont mulch so basically I just go into a garden & rip out weeds rake 'em up and toss on the compost pile. I try to get all gardens done before the weeds have a chance to set seed but that is not always possible. So if a weed has set seeds it then gets tossed on the burning pile and gets burnt . Seems the weeds don't have any trouble replacing themselves even when I do this . If I could afford mulch it might help but with 43 gardens I would need to win a lottery.

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Comments (8)

mantis__oh
5 years ago
I just finished weeding the entire garden and adding some mulch, but more mulch will have to be added. I don't "clean up" at all. The mulch is seldom so heavy that one has to pull some back. I generally don't use any nonorganic fertilizer, but it would be too early here anyway.
Nancy 6b
Original Author
5 years ago
I had been wondering about the mulch. I think I remember Kay saying she pulled her mulch back from the plants to prevent heat buildup. she is a couple of zones farther south of me though. I am pretty much between your zones. We do get summer temps occasionally over 100, usually mid 90s though is normal highs. I did lay the mulch thicker that I thought last fall. Just concerned that the mulch might increase crown rot, but then I get plenty of that without mulch so maybe it would help.
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Brad KY 6b
5 years ago
I do everything in the fall. I kill &/or remove all the weeds, then I collect free pine mulch at a local park and my church. This past fall I really made the mulch thicker than past years. I've read that pine mulch needs to be thicker than regular mulch.

Actually I sometimes do one thing in the spring, which is fertilize [the spray on kind with a hose]. I haven't done this for a couple of years so I am going to this year.
popmama (Colorado, USDA z5)
5 years ago
I do fertilize but usually later in April when I start seeing a lot of perennials emerging. For the daylilies, I will probably give them something like Espoma FlowerTone. In the past, I have also used Yum-Yum Mix which is a very mild fertilizer that works on just about anything.
shive
5 years ago
I just started weeding and fertilizing on Friday. I have more weeds than I have seen, so they should keep me busy for a few weeks.
marricgardens
5 years ago
Right now we are having a bit milder temps so I was going to go out and see if I could do a bit of cleanup, pulling away dead foliage. Scapes i will leave because the ground is still frozen. Later when the dayllies start coming up, would it be o.k. to spread some sea compost around each plant or should I wait?
organic_kitten
5 years ago
I like to use fish emusion fertilizer, but I need to get going if I am goig to do so. I mulch in fall, usually have small clean up in spring but with the baclk to back severe freezes we had an plants so eager to get started, I have to do some clean up...I have done maybe a fourth of it so far.

kay

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