Winter is slowly melting away, and spring is on its way! For gardeners in the Pacific Northwest, that means it’s time to start thinking about all the tasks you need to do to get ready for your garden come springtime. Here are just a few of the things you should consider doing before you break out your gardening gloves and trowels.
Clean Up Your Garden Bed
Before you can start planting this spring, it’s important to make sure your garden bed is free of debris. This includes removing any dead plants or leaves that have built up over winter, as well as any rocks or sticks that may have made their way into your garden. Once everything is cleared away, give your bed a thorough raking to loosen the soil and prepare it for planting.
Test Your Soil
One of the most important steps in getting ready for spring planting is testing your soil. The pH level of your soil will determine what type of plants will grow best in it, so knowing this information beforehand will help you select plants that will thrive in your particular climate and soil type. You can pick up an inexpensive test kit at most local nurseries or home improvement stores.
Plan Out Your Plantings
Now comes the fun part—planning out how exactly you want to arrange your plants! Start by sketching out a basic outline of where each plant will go so you know exactly what you need when it’s time to buy seedlings or bulbs from the nursery. Make sure to take into account how much sunlight each plant needs and whether certain plants require more water than others. Doing this ahead of time can save you a lot of headaches later on!
Get ready to dig into some gardening this spring with these helpful tips! A little bit of prep work now can pay off big time when it comes time to start tending to your garden beds and growing season favorites like tomatoes and carrots. Be sure to check with local nurseries for additional advice specific to gardens in the Pacific Northwest; they'll be able to provide expert tips on what works best in our unique climate conditions here in the area! Good luck and happy gardening!