GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. - The calendar may say it's spring, and that has a lot of us itching to get our green thumbs busy in the yard, but not this year. Winter is hanging on.
Certified Professional, Heidi Heiland of Heidi's Lifestyle Gardens (HLG), joined us to discuss what tasks we should be doing right now.
• No spring clean up. It is too soon to perform spring clean-up. Shady areas may still have frozen leaves on them but more importantly, beneficial insects are most likely still dormant within the debris. 24% of pollinator bees are 'aerial nesters' meaning they choose to live in above-ground cavities like the hollow stems of hardy plants. Leaving at least 8" of stems on your perennials will provide habitat for these bees who bring you beautiful spring blooms!
• 5th Season – It is the perfect time to remove the winter evergreen arrangements from your containers and install sticks, stems and moss, the 5th Season. It is a little too soon to install Pansy Pots especially if the plants are not hardened off, but take advantage of this gorgeous weather and toss your winter look into the fire pit.
• Critter control – Deer and rabbits begin foraging for new shoots and become more active first thing in the spring so this is the time to begin your repellant strategies. The idea being that by applying early controls, the browsing patterns of these critters will be established away from your yard.
• Site Assessment– As the snow melts and spring rains occur, the gardens are typically wet. March and April prove to be one of the best times to observe how water moves through your yard and garden. As keeping water on our land, and not in the waterways, is the goal, consider where you may install a rain garden or some other strategy. The goals being:
1) Slow the water down
2) Clean the water, remove toxins
3) Cool the water
4) Have the water infiltrate, keep the water on the land
• Goal setting - Prepare for your growing season by challenging yourself to become a stronger steward of the earth. Goals may be to grow more perennial food, create a compost heap, avoid using any chemicals or sit in your garden and observe at least monthly. The best and easiest goal to help our pollinators is to plant more flowers!
Check out GrowHaus to learn how to cultivate change in your garden!