Heather’s Early Spring Gardening Advice
As spring approaches, indications from weather forecasters are for a warmer, drier spring for Auckland and the Waikato. That is great news for gardeners who do their mulching work now and keep an eye on the watering as spring unfolds.
Investing in prepping soil for food growing will pay dividends later in spring, plus potatoes and some herbs can be planted now, and seed sowing can get underway.
In the ornamental garden, cutbacks on perennials and hydrangeas, some snail bait around emerging growth and some fertilising of trees and shrubs should be done.
Use Premium Garden Mix to get new plants off to a great start, plus it's a great time to build a raised garden bed.
Designer looks with decorative pebbles – now's the time to get a pebble project underway to complement the spring/summer garden.
Early spring jobs for the edible garden
Sow Summer Vegetable Seeds Indoors
Seed sowing time! If you’ve been poring over the seed catalogues this winter – now's the time to get seed sowing to grow your own! Start summer veg like tomatoes, cucumber, capsicum and eggplant in seed sowing trays and keep indoors for the first month. Water daily. If you are growing in a glasshouse, don’t forget some bait – young seedlings are delicious to slugs and snails.
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Plant Seed Potatoes Before Spring
Planting spuds – seed potatoes are ready to plant out once they have sprouted ‘eyes’ that are a couple of cm long. They can be planted now, even if there is a possibility of a few more frosts because they are planted into soil, not on top. Ideally you want them to break ground once the threat of frost has passed so bury them 15cm deep. Premium Garden Mix is great for growing potatoes. Tip: You can grow potatoes in heavy soil - to break up the hard texture, mix in a bit of garden mix when you plant them.
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Prepare Vegetable Gardens and Raised Beds
Prepping garden soil including raised beds for planting food crops. The soil in raised beds compacts after a growing season, so you want to dig in more compost or garden mix along with a nutrient burst such as our famous Mussel Meal Fertiliser.
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Feed Strawberries and Citrus Plants
The ‘hungry’ plants already needing food are fruit producers like strawberries and citrus bushes. Place sheep pellets around them that will work into the soil to encourage growth.
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Prepare Fruit Trees for Flowering and Pollination
As the buds form on pip and stone fruit trees, here are first steps for successful summer fruit production: a liquid feed of Aquaticus Organic Garden Booster or Biofert Moana Extra watered in around the drip-line, then a collar of mulch around the tree (not against the trunk), and some seeds or seedlings of alyssum or ageratum to attract the bees to aid pollination.
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Early Spring Jobs for the Ornamental Garden
Cut Back Perennials and Tidy Ornamental Grasses
Tidy up: perennial plants such as hostas, salvias, ligularias and deciduous grasses that have messy old foliage can be tidied now, exposing the new growth pushing through. (Remember the snail bait again). Take a rake to evergreen grasses to comb out dead strands. For the braver gardener sacrifice early lavender blooms to a light trim – doing this will give a better shape to the shrub through summer.
Plant Trees, Shrubs and Hardy Plants
Time for planting: Early spring is ideal for planting shrubs, trees and hardier plants because the soil is warming up, but still moist. Plant them with Premium Garden Mix to boost the soil or to top up raised beds. Premium Garden Mix contains fertilisers, compost and is weed-free, an ideal planting mix. Adding some sheep pellets around a plant after planting will increase available nutrients as it grows.
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Fertilise and Mulch as the Weather Warms
As we head into September and warmer weather, fertilising the garden helps plants starting to grow. Hedges, roses, shrubs and trees all use fertiliser once the season warms up. My preferences are Prolawn All Purpose Fertiliser or Biofert Multi-Purpose Fertiliser. Once applied, it’s worth mulching the plants if you haven’t already done so, given the expectation this spring is going to be a bit warmer than usual.
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Prune Hydrangeas and Prepare Their Colour
Hydrangea care and colour: It’s not too late to prune hydrangeas, cutting them back to a double leaf bud and taking out old wood. But leave on any pointed leaf tips – they are the first flowers of the season. To ensure your hydrangea flowers bloom blue or pink, apply lime around pink/red hydrangeas and hydrangea blueing tonic for deep blues. White hydrangea flowers are stable in all soils.
Early Spring Landscaping Projects
Build a Raised Vegetable Garden
Build a raised garden bed for growing vegetables. Food crops can grow faster and larger in a raised bed because the soil is elevated and warms up more quickly. Position the bed(s) near to the kitchen area in a sunny spot so they're accessible for watering, fertilising and harvesting. For durability of the beds, we recommend constructing them using copper treated Trustwood Sleepers.
Watch the video below on how to construct a raised garden bed using timber sleepers, read our handy guide here.
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Create a Designer Garden with Mixed Pebble Sizes
Designer trend: mix and match pebble sizes. Decorative pebbles are a landscaping dream because they provide areas of interest around the garden, and a big choice of colours and sizes can make foliage or house colours really pop! An added advantage is that pebbles are graded in size ranges. Smaller pebbles are usually 5-10mm or 10-20mm, but many colours such as river pebbles, Mangatangi Gold or Waikato Fleck are also offered in stone or 'boulder grades' such as 20-60mm through to larger sizes around 150-200mm. This means in a decorative area you can have the smaller sizes for walking comfortably, with placements of the bigger sizes contrasting in non-pedestrian areas.
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Frequently Asked Questions About Spring Gardening
How does mulching help the plants in my garden?
Mulching gardens in early spring has multiple benefits. Spring weather will be warmer (and dry and windy) so mulch helps hold moisture in the soil where the plant roots need it. When a layer of mulch keeps the soil moist, the earthworms stay close to the soil surface, aerating it with their tunnelling so plant roots can spread easily. And when it does rain, the larger particles of mulch help to disperse water more evenly through the soil. Gardeners like this additional benefit: a layer of mulch inhibits germination of weed seeds, so the plant has more room to spread. When weeding does become necessary, most weeds are generally easier to remove from mulched soil.
How to apply: Spread around plants and over soil that has been cleared of weeds to a depth of 50 to 75mm. Ensure mulch is not piled against plant stems and trunks i.e. leave a collar around them.
Why are sheep pellets good for planting?
This is natural sheep manure that has been dried and compressed into pellets. Once added to the soil they provide a valuable source of nitrogen, potassium and phosphorous which are essential fertilisers that plants use. Their value lies in the slow release of these nutrients into the soil so plant roots can take them up as needed.
Some pellets have added extras such as gypsum, chicken manure or worm castings to boost performance.
How to use: Broadcast sheep pellets over soil or fork in lightly around plants. Sheep pellets will break down in rainfall and release their nutrients. In dry weather water after application to begin this process.
What are the benefits of adding compost into soil?
Organic Compost is a soil conditioner. It helps all types of soils to become friable and easier to work with. Adding compost to clay helps to break up the heaviness of it, opening it up and improving the texture. Plant roots and water can move through it more easily. In contrast, sandy soils are usually very free draining, and the benefits of fertilisers wash through too quickly. Adding compost to sandy soil will attach to sand particles and help retain nutrients and moisture for plants to use. Compost is great for boosting soil in raised vegetable beds and it helps attract earthworms.
How to use: Fork compost through the soil to a depth of 50mm.
Why do we place a base of GAP metal beneath pebbles?
When we lay a pebbled area, it's best to lay a base of GAP metal first. Generally, GAP 20 is the best sub-base for urban pebbled areas. GAP is used as the barrier layer between a mud or soil surface and the decorative pebble being used on top. Laying GAP and compacting it before laying pebbles will give you a firm flat base for walking, as well as making it difficult for weeds to penetrate the layer.
How to use: Spray off grass or weeds. Mark out area and edge with a suitable material such as corten steel, treated pine, hardwood, plastic garden edging etc. Place GAP metal in the area at 20-40mm deep and compact. Place the desired pebble at a minimum layer of 20mm over the base.
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