Here are some things that I have done and am doing to help you with your garden tasks. I walk my property pretty much everyday, just to observe and see how big buds are and what is growing that I don't like. I have weeded my garden already, yes I have! This is to nip certain weeds right away, it is amazing what they can get away with.
Any of those violets that form carpets are coming out, last spring (my first spring here) I spent a good week taking out a carpet of violets from the south side of the house, the front lawn and the back. A few violets you do not mind, but when they form a carpet choking out anything else it is time for them to go. I was sure that my life would be spent doing this, but it was pretty much tidied up in a week. Yes, there were more, but I picked at them all summer. The other weed that was in over abundance here was plantain, the weed that has a rosette of rounded leaves and then send up spears coated top to bottom with seeds. I had a gazillion of them. They came out easily though as my soil is moist and their root system is not that large. Also dandelions were a problem here, so I bought a tool at the hardware store that plucks them out easily. Sometimes if I am out there and the tool is hiding in the shed, I attempt to get them out with my weed stick, sometimes it works, sometimes it does not. These and dog strangling vines were my nemesis last summer. The dog strangling vine I cut back put in the garbage and then I covered up the soil with tarps the fist fall I was here (fall of '08) and I kept it on all last summer, this past winter and I think I may remove it this spring. This is where the gravel terrace will go.
I have also start cutting my grasses back, not all of them are done, but only a few remain standing. This week, I am going to cut my bridalwreath spirea down to about 2". This shrub has been there for a long time and no one in years has cut it back, I can see it was done a long time ago but it needs it again. It is an over grown blocking the sidewalk fan, so this will be done.
I have planted by sweet peas and should be planting my garden peas this week. Any spinach can be sown as long as your ground has thawed. If you have a cold frame, I want one, plant your lettuce! Poppy seeds can be sown, as can larkspur.
I have to cut back the raspberry canes this week and finish off cutting back the grasses.
I have one bed out back it is large and it was filled with smooth leaf Hydrangea, now I love hydrangea, but this one is great for the back of a shed or barn. It spreads like crazy and it had taken over an area of about 20'x20'. I dug all out and reduced it to a manageable size. I looked at it yesterday and I will be removing more this spring. If I don't, it will overtake the white pine, blue berries, witch hazel and some other perennials I planted. I may even get rid of it, since this will be a task I will have to undertake every spring if I don't.
Check all of your trees and shrubs for winter damage and prune out damage appropriately.
Baby it's cold outside, but this is the time just to start frolicking around your garden, take stock of what you have and your wants then get out your wish list from January. My willows have the fussy heads popping out of the buds and all other buds are getting ready to pop. The service berry I planted last spring is ready and so is the beech. Sometime over the next two weeks I will remove the burlap and the cat tail mat I made to block wind and cold from the boxwood I transplanted last year.
So it is time dig out those gardening clothes, get rid of the worn and check your gum boots for leaks and rake the gravel off the lawn.
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