The Garden Club of Brewster will meet at 10 a.m. How did I go from bemoaning fall tasks left for spring to suggesting plans for a new garden? Madness. The hose acts as a guide for cutting into sod and making a trench 4 or 5 inches deep that can be filled with a mulch to define the edge and to control grass (mostly, anyway).Ī new garden is a lot of fun, a challenge and usually hard work, especially at the beginning, and particularly if the sod it is replacing is firmly established. The ground is relatively barren, and it's easier to visualize the lay of the garden, before spring growth takes over.Ī free-form garden is easy to lay out by using a garden hose to create a graceful curved edge. If you're planning to start a new garden from scratch - and scratch is an appropriate term for a new garden, not so suited to baking, to my thinking - March is a good time to think about it. Some of the large landscape spreads seem to me to be beyond the scope of the average home gardener, but they are inspiring, I admit. Most of the designs are practical and easily adaptable to small gardens. Also, there are gardens designed to attract butterflies, hummingbirds, regular birds and, I think, the envy of friends and neighbors. There are designs for sunny areas, for partly shaded plots, for heavily shaded spots. Every mail-order seed company and every gardening magazine is replete with illustrated designs for a ''great'' garden. Garden design is definitely ''in'' these days. The condition of garden soil makes all the difference. I've learned over the years that a poor garden is usually more work, and surely less satisfying, than a robust, healthy garden. Amending your soil properly can make a big difference in the results. Take advantage of the county extension service and other offers that are advertised for having your garden soil tested. Set up a timetable and follow it through - more or less. My advice for these next few weeks of winter (besides taking in a flower show or two) is to draw a specific plan for your garden. I often think that planting seeds in the security of my home is the best kind of gardening, though it's not always as easy as the directions on the seed packets would lead you to believe. March is the best time to start most seeds indoors.
By the end of March, it is usually possible to plant some early peas and, if provided the protection of a cold frame or something similar, spinach and chard. Spring is a good time for spreading compost, as soon as the debris of last summer is cleared away. There will be days when the sun is out, the wind calm and the temperature above 40 degrees - a good time to catch up on the tasks not finished in the fall.įor me, that's a garden area to be cleared of dead leaves and grass perennials to be cut back to the ground or just above new growth and, depending on the soil condition (not too wet), perennials to be divided and replanted. A large bag of composted manure that I planned to put on the vegetable garden to seep into the ground over the winter froze solid in the garage and still is a hard mass.īut, I look forward to March. I had intended to get mulch put down on several shrubs as soon as the ground froze, but it came so hard and fast, I didn't get it done. I'm resigned to having to count my losses after this winter. The resilience of plants is often amazing. He wasn't so optimistic, though, about trees and shrubs that came into bloom so early. He says theygot a head start and that the early bulbs are hardy enough to take the freeze. In fact, one gardening friend told me he is convinced the false spring in January will make for an early display Waking up a garden for spring is good therapy for the soul, even if it leads to a few sore muscles. There will be days from now on - optimist that I am - when working outdoors will be possible, and actually pleasant. If not done in the fall, like neglected housework, the essential chores will still be there waiting for you when spring arrives.
Chores that would have made spring an easier time just didn't get done.
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