What a week it was to welcome spring in Calgary. Are you starting to see the robins in your yard? How about some green grass starting to appear in your lawn? For me, it was the sight of annuals and perennials starting to trickle into our greenhouse! YES! It’s still to early to be planting in the garden, but you can begin collecting plants and just keep them inside until the threat of frost and surprise snow storms pass. You never know in Calgary, right?
This week, we started season 3 of GAKidsTV with Colin! You may have also seen him chatting with Lane on CTV Morning Live this week. It was all about prepping your garden for the spring growing season, and things you can do now if you’re just itching to get going. Catch up past episodes of GAKidsTV now available on our YouTube channel, website, or you can access them on both Facebook and Instagram.
Thank you to everyone who came to our first online seminar all about Welcoming Spring! We loved seeing you, loved your questions, and hope that you’ll continue to join us weekly for more free gardening seminars. Information on that can be found on Eventbrite.
Here are some tips if you’re looking to get into the garden and help it wake up:
Raking
- Wait for the lawn and garden beds to be fully dry.
- For lawns, save dethatching, seeding, and fertilizing for a little later in the season. (We have a lawncare seminar coming up!)
- Gently remove debris like dead material and leaves to lightly lift the grass and allow it to breathe.
- Garden Beds
- Fertilize only when you being to see active growth.
- Fertilize after weeding. Don’t encourage more of what you just picked out.
- Water soluable VS granular fertilizer = Both are fine
- Less is more – follow the bag directions. Too much fertilize will encourage root burn and kill plants.
- Lawns
- Use a “Spring Formula” (Something like 30-0-10)
- Fertilize after weeding (And seeding and top dressing if applicable)
- We carry this awesome Alberta brand: Manderley
- Consider leaving weeds until the pollinator have been around. There’s not a lot of food available right now…
- Good time to work on the lawn is when it’s dried out and actively growing.
- Five “D”s of spring pruning
- Dead – Are there branches that are at the point of no return and have no signs of life?
- Diseased – Do you see signs of illness?
- Damaged – Did the shrub get damaged by something falling on it?
- Dangerous – Are there branches that could injury someone or property?
- Desireable – This should be saved for last as it’s more for aesthetic as you wrap up.
- If you’re not sure, come in and talk with an expert. Snap some pics and we can help you make an informed decision.
- How to prune:
- Make sure your pruners are clean and sharp. A clean cut will promote quicker healing.
- Always cut to a collar or bud.
- Do not paint cuts unless absolutely necessary.
- After a major pruning session, make sure to fertilize and water to encourage healing.
Cultivating & Weeding
- Garden Beds
- Often you’ll do these at the same time and early in the season.
- Doing this will break soil tension and allow you to insert healthy nutrients
- Consider adding organic material like compost, peat moss or coconut coir, rock dust, earthworm castings, etc.
- Dig weeds out of the garden bed.
- Lawns
- Consider leaving weeds until the pollinator have been around. There’s not a lot of food available right now…
- Remove weeds by hand if possible.
- Consider clover in your lawn to help pollinators!
- Weed before applying fertilizer.
- Water as needed. Each season is different. Start watering when you start to see things growing, and we’ve got dry conditions.
- Watering too much can result in root rot, mold, encourage pathogens
- Watering too little can result in stunted growth of your plants, wilting, and weak production of veggies and blooms.
If you have any gardening questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us in store, by phone, or online through our social media channels.
We want nothing more than garden success for you this year!
Until next time,
Brandi