Spring Clean-Up in the Garden
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Over the past few years, I have not done a fall clean-up in my garden. It’s not that I’m lazy, but that I have learned to leave flower heads as a food source for birds. I leave other spent plant material and warm season ornamental grasses for insects and birds to use for protection from predators or as a protected place to overwinter. Spent flower heads and grasses can also add ornamental interest, movement, and sound to the winter garden.
So I save my garden clean up until spring these days and this month is a good time to get into the garden and clean up for the new season. Cut back old flower heads and other spent herbaceous plants now. Warm season ornamental grasses should be cut back now before new growth begins. Don’t cut the grasses all the way down to the ground, but leave 4-6”. If your warm-season grasses may need to be divided, save that chore until early summer when they are actively growing.
Forsythia is in full bloom, which is a signal that the soil is warm enough for crabgrass to germinate and it is time to apply pre-emergent crabgrass control to your lawn. Crabgrass will continue to germinate throughout the summer, so if you had a lot of crabgrass last year, you may need to make a second application of crabgrass control about 6 weeks later.
If you have plants that may have some winter dieback, you can prune back to healthy tissue at this time. Also, remove any broken, damaged, crossing or rubbing stems. Hedges can receive their first shearing this month if needed.
Spring is also a good time to look forward to future plans for your garden. You can layout and prepare new ornamental planting beds in the spring for fall planting. Cover an area with cardboard or a thick layer of newspaper topped with 4-6” of mulch. This will kill the vegetation underneath and the cardboard or newspaper will decompose helping to make a good bed for fall planting.