When spring finally starts to approach after a long winter, it’s one of the best things in the world. When you’re not busy enjoying your Easter chocolate, you can start thinking about how to prepare your garden to set it up for the spring and summer.
Now that the weather is warming up, you can start bringing your garden back to life after its more dormant period. If you’re going to get ready for spring, it’s a good idea to think about the greenways you can prepare your garden so that you don’t have too much of an impact on the environment. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to prepare using green methods.
Clear Up and Make Compost
Winter can leave your garden looking a little worse for wear. The debris from old plants, fallen leaves and anything that hasn’t survived the cold weather can make everything look a bit of a mess. You might want to begin your new spring garden by cleaning up any mess so that you have a blank canvas to work with.
It might be a little cool yet to start composting, but that doesn’t mean you need to throw everything away. You can still start putting together a compost heap or bin, even if it won’t be warm enough to start truly composting for a few more weeks.
Start Collecting Rainwater
With the spring rain, you have the perfect opportunity to start collecting water for use later in the year. If you know there will be dry periods when there won’t be enough rain, and you’ll have to water your garden more, it’s much greener if you have reserves of rainwater that you can make use of.
You can set up water butts to collect rainfall so you’ll have plenty to use when you need it most. Put your containers below a downpipe so that you can easily collect what you need. You can even set up a new system for funneling and collecting water so that you can maximize what you get. Go to https://www.diy.com/ideas-advice/ to find out how to set up a water butt.
Choose Some Native Plants
When you’re thinking about what to plant this year, you should consider choosing plants that will require as little care as possible. The fewer products you need to use and the less you need to water them, the better they are for the environment.
The best thing for this is plants that are native to the area or those that come from similar climates. These plants should be able to survive largely on their own in your area, so you won’t have to do as much to take care of them. It also prevents non-native plants from becoming invasive or spreading around the area, where they could have an effect on other plants or animals.
Find Green Ways to Deal with Pests
Pests of some kind are almost always a problem in gardens, and it’s worth getting on top of the problem as soon as possible. While you’re preparing your garden for spring, it’s a good time to go looking for any pests and knock any potential problems on the head now.
Over the winter, pests might have been hibernating, and now they’re getting ready to come out and enjoy the rain and the slightly warmer weather. If you deal with them now, they should be less of a problem later.
There are plenty of natural ways to deal with pests if you’re trying to stay green, but first, you need to know what pests to defend against. Take a look around your garden or find out what you tend to get in your area so you can pick the right pest deterrents.
Maintain Your Lawn
You can let your lawn go over the winter, so you might find yourself performing a rescue job when spring arrives. You might need to remove weeds and moss, and seeding your lawn to refresh it is a good idea too.
Depending on the size of your lawn, it can take a lot of work to get it up to scratch. If you visit Allenoutdoorstl.com today, you can find out about the difference a professional lawn care service could make to your lawn.
A professional service can use a variety of methods to get your lawn back to full health, helping to aerate the soil, overseed and fertilize. If you want to take a greener approach to your lawn, you might consider keeping it a little less well-maintained and groomed. Let it grow a little more naturally, instead of mowing and weeding it all the time.
Prepare Your Soil
It might not be time for planting just yet, but you can get your soil ready for planting if you want to get ahead. Winter can leave your soil solid and be lacking in nutrients, but you can refresh it in time for the spring and summer. You’ll need to wait until it’s warm enough to be able to dig. If it’s too cold, the ground could just be frozen solid, and you’ll have trouble getting your shovel in.
Don’t worry too much if your soil is compacted, as this happens naturally over time. Your goal should be to loosen it up so that it’s ready for planting. You can use a shovel or fork to turn it over, although you should do it when it’s dry, and not when it’s wet and lumpy. You can also prepare your soil by adding compost or fertilizer, which will help to provide it with the nutrients it needs.
Give Your Tools a Green Clean
You’ll need all your tools to maintain your garden for the rest of the year, so make sure they’re all ready to go. Giving them a thorough clean will keep them in good condition and prevent any problems, such as rust or just dirt building up.
Just some soapy water and a stiff brush are all you need to start cleaning and get off some of the mud. If there are any rusty patches, use a wire brush or wire wool to remove it, but be careful not to scrub too hard. You can also sharpen your tools and oil the metal to help prevent rust. Keep cleaning your tools as you use them too so that you can maintain them.
Start Growing Indoors
If you’re planning on planting seeds or bulbs, you don’t have to start them off in your garden. You can give them a better fighting chance if you start them off indoors, and it gives you something to do while you’re waiting for temperatures to rise.
You can easily grow things indoors, with the right pots, soil, and food. If you want to try to do this in a green way, you might want to steer away from plastic pots. While they’re cheap, they can break easily too, and then you can’t reuse them. Other materials are more solid and more eco-friendly.
You can also reuse materials, like egg boxes. Try saving water too, by using gray water from your home instead of taking it straight from the faucet. Once your plants have grown a little, and the weather is suitable, you can transplant them into your garden.
Draw Up a Planting Calendar
It might not be time to start planting just yet, but you can make sure you get it right by creating a calendar to follow. If you have packets of seeds or bulbs, the packets should tell you when it’s the best time to plant so that you can get it right.
By getting the timing right, you won’t have to rely so much on fertilizers, pesticides and other products, or on watering your garden too much. Don’t just plan for the spring, but start thinking about the summer and fall too. Good planning will help you maintain your garden more easily.
Plan Your Garden Layout
As well as deciding on the best times to plant, you should think about where you’re going to plant things. A good layout will help things grow more easily, and you can plan so that complimentary plants can grow together.
For example, you can set up a vegetable garden so that you have beans growing up the stalks of corn. There are ways to maximize your use of space and plant smartly so that you can keep things natural and avoid having to rely on chemicals to keep things in check. You might also want to consider some new hardscaping elements, like a patio or path, and these are best to start thinking about as soon as possible.
Consider How to Automate Your Gardening
Another thing to consider planning ahead is the automation of your garden. This has the potential not to be very environmentally-friendly if you do it wrong, like having sprinklers constantly running, but it’s easy to make it greener too.
Consider which is the best method to use to keep your garden watered, whether it’s a sprinkler system that you’ve perfectly timed and calibrated or a drip irrigation system that minimizes water use. If you’re planning on garden lights, consider using some that have motion or light sensors.
Start getting your garden ready for spring and keep things green for an environmentally responsible approach. Good preparation will set you up for a fruitful spring and summer.
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