Helping Your Garden Grow

Hello. I hope you all had a great weekend. It was chilly but sunny here in the Northeast and it gave gardeners a perfect chance to prep our beds for summer. Maybe you have gone out and noticed plants just starting to pop their heads out of the ground. Are you wondering what to do to help them along? Here is a list of things to do to help your plants spring into summer;

1. Weed your beds. Now is the time. Wait for a day after a heavy rain when the soil is easier to work with and then go get those dandelions, garlic mustard, and anything else that doesn't belong there. Make sure you get the whole root out or like Arnold, "they'll be back."

2. Rake all the leaves and debris out of the beds and from around the plant bases.  My yard got hit hard by several windy storms this winter.  I have been picking up branches by the wheelbarrow.

3. Prune back butterfly bushes to about 12" from the ground. This will tell them it is time to grow!

4. Do you have any plants that need to be divided? Either send me a question about it or check on the web to see if you can divide the plant now. The divisions can be replanted in other areas, given to friends, or donated to garden clubs that are preparing for their annual plant sales.

5. Mulch the beds. For my sanity, please skip any dyed or colored enhanced mulches. Mother nature did a wonderful job with her box of colors and dyed mulch not only takes away from this beauty but also leaches chemicals into the ground. Your mulch should smell organic, fresh, and possibly like horse or cow poop. We have a wonderful product here in Pawling that is called "Sweet Peet". It is a mix of peet, compost and manure. The plants LOVE it. Garden centers will deliver mulch.

After all this hard work, sit back, grab a drink and enjoy the fruits of your labor. Please feel free to send me any questions you have about preparing your garden.

Next week I will be featuring my aquatic garden.

Have a great week!

Maggie