Spring gardening checklist

Enjoy the spring weather and get out into the garden. Here’s a month-by-month checklist of what you can be doing to prepare for another great season!

March

  • Clear leaf mulch from the crowns of perennials and wherever bulbs grow
  • Cut back dead stems of perennials
  • Plant bare-root plants once soil is workable
  • Press back perennials heaved by frost
  • Remove protective plant coverings, such as burlap and evergreen boughs
  • Top-dress beds with compost once the ground thaws

April

  • Cut back summer-blooming shrubs such as hydrangea
  • Divide summer- and fall-blooming perennials
  • Plant perennials, trees and shrubs
  • Prune vines such as wisteria, clematis and climbing roses
  • Weed

May

  • Continue weeding
  • Deadhead spring-flowering perennials
  • Divide spring-flowering perennials
  • Prune lavender when leaf buds break
  • Prune spring-flowering shrubs immediately after they bloom
  • Remove unwanted perennial seedlings
  • Watch for pests such as aphids

Photo: Janet Davis