Spring training

Use the preseason warm-up to get garden-ready safely

By Bev Bennett
CTW Features

Image courtesy iStockphoto

You can finally see the bare soil after winter's ravages. Now you're eager to start spring planting, even though the nights can still have a chill. The experts have one word of advice before you jump in:

Wait.

As frustrating as it can be to hold off, it's important. Your efforts will be counterproductive if you start your outdoor gardening too soon. And just as you may pick up the wrong foods at the store when you're hungry, you may do the wrong things in the garden because you're so eager.

"It's like grocery shopping. We're so starved for gardening," says Melinda Myers, a gardening expert in Milwaukee. Rest assured though, you'll get all your outdoor chores done in time – here's what the experts say you can do now.

Get in shape. Do a little stretching and some warm-up exercises so you don't injure yourself while gardening, says Mary McLellan, state coordinator for the Michigan State University Master Gardener Program, East Lansing, Mich.

Check your gardening tools. Sharpen clippers; make sure your lawn mower is in good condition

Pick up twigs, branches and any debris. "The ground is wet now and the worst thing you can do is to walk on wet ground. Wait until you can walk without compacting the ground," McLellan says.

To test whether the soil is dry enough to dig, take a handful and squeeze. "If it breaks into small pieces it's ready to work; if it forms a ball, it's too wet," says Myers, host of "Great Lakes Gardener" on PBS television stations.

Prune perennials. If you didn't touch ornamental grasses or dead flowers in the fall, trim them back now. "You can prune ornamental grasses to a few inches above the ground," says McLellan.

Leave the early flowering shrubs, such as lilacs or forsythia, alone. "The buds are flowering on old wood. If you prune now you won't get any blooms,” McLellan says. “Wait until the shrubs have finished flowering, then get them into shape."

Loosen the grass and do some reseeding. "I like to make my own patches for dead spots using a handful of grass seed and a good topsoil mix. Sprinkle it over the dead stuff and keep moist," says Myers.

Take a soil test. "Many people over fertilize soil, which impacts plant health and wastes money. A soil test will tell you what nutrients your soil needs," Myers says. She prefers low-nitrogen fertilizers for her garden.

Allow seedlings to become acclimated to the outdoors. Put the seedlings in their containers in a sunny spot during the day and bring them in at night. You can also give herbs a few hours of sunshine, but again, take the herbs indoors at night.

Hold back on planting annuals and herbs until the last frost has passed, which is usually Memorial Day in the upper Midwest. If you're unsure of the frost date in your area, check with your local university extension department.

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