Preparing the Garden for Spring

Now that we are entering into the cold of winter, it feels as if we can kind of leave the garden to its own devices and let it be wild for the next few months. While this is certainly true, there are a few things you can be doing during the winter in preparing the garden for spring and for a prosperous season of bloom.

While the cool weather prevails, you can still plan for the return of warmer temperatures. From dreaming of the perfect sod lawn to mapping out your veggie garden, it’s time to plan for success.

Preparing the Garden for Spring: 5 Things You Can Do Now

1 – Cut down trees

The first thing you can take advantage of while birds are no longer nesting inside your tree is to cut it down. This applies if you have a large tree in your garden which is taking up a lot of space or simply blocking out your light. It is always hard to find the right time to learn more and call a professional to trim it, and winter is the ideal time because nothing is making its home in there.

preparing the garden for spring — Winter is the time to remove dead trees and debris on those milder days.

2 – Plant seeds

It might seem a little bit funny to start planting seeds now before spring has even begun, but your garden will only act as the fridge does right now if you are storing your seeds in there. The soil will protect your seeds and the cold will keep them dormant, and then come spring you will start to see your seeds transform into something amazing and spread the color all over your garden space.

3 – Lay down compost

One of the things you should invest in for your garden as soon as you move in is a compost bin. A compost bin can be a handy place to throw away old food and plant debris and recycle it into something you can use later on. While your plant beds are empty it is the ideal time to start spreading new compost over the top. This will be full of nutrients and it will make all the difference in the new season when your plants start to grow.

preparing your garden for spring — Daffodils are among the spring’s earliest flowers.

4 – Break out the food

The winter is a difficult time for animals and now should be the time where you really start to bring out food for them. If you want lots of birds and other animals to visit the garden in the spring you will want to make sure you have lots of bird feeders, a birdbath and some other bits and bobs on hand. Animals will come if you provide for them and they will keep coming back to liven up your space.

5 – Attract bees

Bees are the most wonderful creatures, and as we know they have been struggling for some time now due to the change in climate and conditions. For a healthy and fertile garden, bees can be amazing and you can attract them in by planting bee-friendly seeds and plants before the spring sets in. A big shrub such as a hydrangea can be a great choice for this and it will be a plant which flowers all through the summer. Once they are in bloom the bees will come flooding in and your garden will thrive as a result.

Thank you to our writer for this reminder! It’s most certainly true that we start to long for gardening quickly in the winter. Fortunately, I enjoy earlier springs here in the Carolinas. Preparing the garden for spring for me starts right after Christmas.

One editorial note: while I agree with attracting bees, in general, I do not advise planting your hydrangea during the winter. Leave that project until spring. Instead, search through your plant catalogs and select one to order in March.

Have a happy DIY day.

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Deborah

Editor and author at DIY Home & Garden, a Word Innovations publication

Deborah Tayloe is a full-time blogger, children's book author, and freelance writer, contributing to large publications.

She has a B.S.Ed. in Secondary Education/English and a Spanish Minor. In addition, she holds a Certificates in Natural Health and Herbology from accredited programs. She pursued these natural wellness certifications due to her love for herb gardening.

Despite freelancing to make a living, her love is "all things home."

Deborah grew up in a family that grew a large vegetable garden and a fruit orchard, helping her parents pull weeds and can home-grown foods as part of her childhood. In fact, she had no idea that she could purchase veggies and fruits in pre-packed steel cans until she went to college and made a food run.

Today, she lives in Bertie County, North Carolina, an agricultural rural area with more chickens than people. She lives with her husband and two rescue pets a sweet toy fox terrier and a cat who showed up one day and moved into the house. Together, they enjoy DIY projects, furniture refinishing, gardening, and canning.