I was sitting out on the porch today, with the full warmth of the spring sun on my face, as the birds were chattering and singing away — could anything be better right now?! The new spring shoots are poking their heads out. We can finally get dug into the garden (hoorah) to tackle some of the gardening jobs that need doing at this time of year.
April is such an up and down month in truly cold climates as one day it could be 10C degrees and two days later -10C. This means the flowers stay safely tucked away and the burst of spring greens we crave is postponed, often into May. I call this our ‘brown and gray' season -- although maybe I should be grateful that I only live with it for a month. In any case, the tulips, crocus, and early dwarf iris sprang into life last week, a sure sign that we're on our way now.
Left: The new spring foliage tips of Lysimachia nummularia ‘Aurea’ (golden creeping jenny) are a zingy bright chartreuse that contrast against the bronzey burgundy autumn foliage. Right: A drift of early, mid, and late season tulips are planted through mid-spring flowering dwarf iris. Photo Credit for both: Tao Chamberlin.
Jobs for the week:
Attack your weeds. Dandelions, creeping bellflower, and a few other pernicious weeds have emerged, so get in there.
Sharpen and oil your tools so they’re ready for the upcoming season. It's amazing what a sharp tool can tackle.
Cut down deciduous ornamental grasses and perennial flowers that have added interest through the winter months. Cut grasses and woody perennials to 15cm (6”) above the ground, while other perennials can be cut back to ground level. *Note:
Tidy up evergreen perennials. Don’t cut evergreen grasses back, or they will look weird for a few years. These will still have some colour in them, like Helictotrichon sempervirens (blue oat grass) and Festuca (fescues.) Instead, comb through evergreen grasses with your hands to remove any loose foliage not of its blue or green summer colour. Other evergreen perennials can just be tidied up: trim off any tatty or dead-looking brown leaves.
Yard clean-up: rake up any leftover fallen autumn leaves and sticks, remove any debris from your planting containers, trim your border edges, etc.
Wait! Don’t remove plant mulch or dethatch any lawn areas yet! Our weather is still temperamental in cold climates. It’s best to wait a week, or three, depending on where you live, so your plants will be less shocked by a dramatic temperature swing into the negatives. Waiting to do these jobs until after your region’s last frost date will be much kinder to your plants and your lawn.
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