How Does Your Garden Grow? 6 Tips for Growing a Lush Spring Garden

Got spring fever? Getting your garden ready after winter can be stressful, but it can also be good for your mental health.  

It's time to make new beds, clean out your beds, add mulch, plant flowers, prune bushes, repair winter damage, feed your plants and birds, get your pots ready, and tune up your sprinklers. Don't worry—you can do it!

Take a look at these tips to help you get the spring garden you dreamed of all winter.

1. Prune Shrubs

It's time to get rid of any damaged, diseased, and dead branches from your bushes. You can also trim your roses, hydrangeas, and butterfly bushes to get them ready for blooms. 

You can prune these plants after they get some spring growth. You should wait to trim trees and shrubs that bloom in the spring after they flower.

2. Clean Out the Beds

To get your beds ready, remove all your winter mulch away from your perennials. If it has composted, you can dig up the top layer of soil.

Remove any winter debris such as dead leaves and branches. Get the soil surface loosened and ready for planting. 

Watch out for any growth like your spring bulbs.

3. Divide Perennials

This is the best time to thin out or divide your perennials like hostas. You can use these clumps to fill in any holes in your landscape and save money. 

Thinning out these perennials will also help keep the plants healthy. When they grow too large, the middle can thin out and look bare. Dividing them up gives your plant new and fresh growth.

4. Add New Plants

When your ground isn't frozen, you can add some new cool-season annuals, trees, and shrubs. Get your garden plans ready and start thinking about your layouts and tools.

If you want a pop of color, you can add snapdragons or pansies because they do okay in the cooler spring weather.  You can also add these to pots on your front porch to brighten it up.

You want to plant shrubs and trees as soon as you can in the spring. This gives the new roots time to get established before the hotter summer temps.

5. Fertilize

Spring is the best time to add a little fuel to your soil. You want a balanced fertilizer, which means all the numbers are the same such as 8-8-8. You want to apply this around the shrubs and trees as soon as you see the new growth appear.

You can use high-acid fertilizer or even pine-need mulch by plants that like acids. Some of these plants include blueberries, azaleas, citrus, camellias, ferns, and crabapples.

6. Mulch

Add mulch after your new growth comes in. This is pleasing to the eye and also very functional. Mulch helps limit weeds and helps the bed retain moisture.

The layer of mulch should be a couple of inches for a clean and tidy look. Make sure you apply evenly.

Get Your Spring Garden Ready

Spring has sprung and it's time to get your spring garden going with these tips. 

Need to tune up your sprinkler or looking for a new system? Check out our sprinkler products to help you keep a lush, beautiful garden and lawn.