Is it really the beginning of February, really? The reason I ask is because IT’S 54° IN SYRACUSE, NEW YORK. Yes you read that right it’s 54° in Syracuse, New York. Now I realize that there have been the occasional cold day and blasts of snow, but in terms of what Northeastern winters usually offer…I’ll take it! Everyone talks about changing weather patterns, global warming, and the like. I’ll let the environmentalists fight that one out, enjoy the mild weather, and start gearing up for spring gardening.
I’ve been outside the past week almost every evening in the gardens starting my spring cleaning, and I’m noticing more and more “bulb green” in the gardens, and swollen buds on the trees. I really hope that Old Man Winter doesn’t suddenly decide to dump exorbitant amounts of snow on us, or drop the temps thirty degrees to damage said growth, but at this point I’m really not worried. I just keep throwing the old fall leaves around the green growth, and remind myself that spring is only roughly 40 days away.
February to Do: (Mild Weather)
- Clean out garden and flower beds: No matter how thorough I think my fall clean-up is I always find residual and messes to clean up in my garden and flower beds. The mild winter has allowed me to really make sure all debris is removed.
- Turn and compost soil: As long as the gardens or flower beds are not sopping wet or covered in snow I like to take the opportunity to add a bit of compost to my soil, and turn it to let the air in, and let the thaw and spring rains permeate it.
- Review Last year’s gardens and flower beds: I always like to quickly review any images or notes I have of the prior year’s gardens and flower beds. This review helps me in seed selection for this year’s growing season as well as provides a visual for any new gardens or flower beds.
- Select and order seeds: If your mailbox looks anything like mine it’s stuffed with seed catalogues. Use your prior years review to help select what you’d like to grow again and what you’d like to grow new, and get them ordered.
- Plan out any new gardens or flower beds: Use the prior year’s review to plan out any improvements, replacements, or even better new gardens or flower beds.
***And on a side note since the weather has been so mild I have transplanted/planted a few trees, something I would have normally waited until the end of February to do.
- Clean up your garden tools, and throw away that old unmanageable garden hose: If you didn’t have a chance in the fall to make sure all your garden tools were cleaned up for spring use, now is a good time to do it. And I’m going to use this step to plug TUFF GUARDS The Perfect Garden Hose, because chances are your old garden hose didn’t survive even this mild winter so it’s time to go get the only all-weather garden hose, The Perfect Garden Hose!
- Organize Your Planting Pots: If you are anything like me at the end of the growing season there is a mad rush to get things emptied out and put away. During this frantic time my planting pots really take a beating. None of the pots are clean, and about 10% of my terracotta is broken. Use this warm weather to get out there and organize your pots, and don’t forget to use the broken terracotta for fill!
- Sow Your Seeds: By now the seeds you had ordered have started to arrive, so get them into flats or your homemade containers, and get to the sowing!
So this is a short list of things I’ve either done already, or plan to do to get a good jump on the spring as long as the weather stays relatively mild. Obviously selecting, ordering, and sowing seeds don’t depend on the weather, but the mild days do make it more exciting to do that’s for sure. There are so many other things that can be done during these mild, late winter days, so get out there and get a good jump on the spring season. Also, don’t forget to check out TUFF GUARD The Perfect Garden Hose at any of our online distributors, or ask your local True Value or Do it Best to bring ‘em in for you!
Related articles
- TUFF GUARD The Perfect Garden Hose : Professional Grade Brought Home to You! (tuffguardhose.com)
- 10 things to do in February for the garden (giantveggiegardener.com)
- We did it! We Built a Better Mousetrap and We've Called it, TUFF GUARD The Perfect Garden Hose! (tuffguardhose.com)
