Beware: Don't rush the spring planting season

Q. How early can I start working in my beds without damaging them?

A. You see the daffodils blooming, the grass greening, and feel the weather warming, which makes you excited to get into your garden. I know it is hard, but you cannot rush the season.

Cold, wet soils are not hospitable to vegetables or most other annual plants. In early spring, you need to check your soil condition before you do any planting. It is better to wait in the Chicago area until later in the spring for the soil to warm up and dry out a bit before planting most annuals in gardens, planters and window boxes.

In April, if the rains are not too heavy or continual, it might be possible to plant some cold hardy annuals, such as sweet peas, pansies, snapdragons and sweet alyssum. Be careful not to walk on or stand in your garden where you want to plant. That soil will compact making it harder for plants to use the microorganisms, water and air that good soil provides.

Until you can plant, you can do other garden chores. If you have a compost pile, turn and sift it so you have plenty to use as the season gets going. Late winter is the time you can pull back heavy mulch to allow existing perennial plants to emerge and add finished compost to add organic matter to nourish the soil. If you left stalks on plants from last autumn, you can cut those back now and add them to your pile.

You can also inspect trees and bushes for any damage that may have occurred over the winter. If a tree or bush has damage, such as tip browning, or cracked limbs all over an area of the plant, it is likely the cause will be due to nonliving factors, such as frost, wind or chemical (salt) exposure. If the damage is more scattered/random, it is more likely to come from a living factor such as an insect or fungal disease. You can bring examples of damage to the Answer Desk at Friendship Park Conservatory in Des Plaines where Master Gardeners can assist in identifying the cause and recommend remedies.

- Nancy E. Degnan

• Provided by Master gardeners through the Master Gardener Answer Desk, Friendship Park Conservatory, Des Plaines. Call (847) 298-3502 or email northcookmg@gmail.com.