It's early spring: Time to get back to the garden
Whenever we are blessed with a gentle day in early spring, head outside to the garden to do a few chores and get it off to a good start.
Start with trimming and tidying. If you're like me, you cut nothing back last fall leaving plant structures and seed heads for winter interest and the birds. Start slow, those gardening muscles aren't quite ready for diving right in. Cut stems all the way back to the ground.
If you don't already have a compost pile, start one. All those trimmings will decompose into fabulous compost to enrich your soil later in the year. Any foliage from diseased plants last year should have been cut back and disposed of last fall; but if it wasn't, do not put those materials in your compost pile - those can go to the garbage.
Usually hand pruners are sufficient for most cutting back, but hedge shears or trimmers may be called into service on plants like ornamental grasses. Here's a tip: tie a piece of twine tightly around the clump of stems before cutting them back to 4 to 6 inches. You won't have to pick up all those individual stems as they fall to the ground.
Once you have cleaned last year's remains from the garden, weeds will be easy to spot. If you take the time now to get them roots and all, you will save yourself a worse job in the hot summer sun. Weeds are another plant that goes to the garbage - not your compost pile.
It's also time to start removing the mulch or soil you put over your roses to protect them from the sting of winter. Acclimate your roses by removing it in stages - half now; the rest in a week so light and air will reach new growth slowly. Carefully rake it away, but keep it handy in case we get an unseasonably cold period. When you are sure you won't need it any longer, this can go into your compost pile, too.
Now that plants are cut back and beds are weeded, check the mulch in your beds. If it's getting too thin add an inch or 2 around perennials, up to 3 inches in shrub borders. Keep mulch pulled back from stems though; mulch mounded up against stems will cause them to rot.
If you've had trouble with magnolia or euonymus scale in the past, apply dormant oil spray now to control scale insects. Use this organic pest control method when the buds have begun to swell, the leaves haven't opened yet, and the temperatures are above 40 degrees.
If your lawn isn't too wet, now is a great time to edge. A crisp, clean edge will make your beds and borders look like a million bucks and give you an amazing feeling of accomplishment. And, it's a lot easier to do this job when the temperatures are cool.
Clean out birdhouses so they're ready for this year's brood. Remove any remnants of old nests and clean them with a solution of water and 10 percent bleach. Offer nesting materials. You can buy nesting balls at your local garden center or you can make your own by stuffing an empty suet feeder with short pieces of yarn, hair cleaned from your own or your dog's brush, dryer lint, straw or small twigs.
Hang up your hummingbird feeders. They will be returning the first part of April and, as we all lament, there aren't a lot of flowers blooming to provide them with nourishment.
A word of caution: No matter how bad your green thumb is itching, don't walk on or work in the soil if it is too wet. Even working the soil with just a spade can badly compact soil that will take years of adding organic matter to rebuild it.
To determine whether the soil is dry enough to work, use a trowel to dig a small handful. Squeeze it in your hand. If you can crumble the soil when you open your hand, it's ready to go. If, however, you end up with muddy ball, wait a few days and try again.
Even when it's too early to dive full-fledged into the soil, there are plenty of things to do when the gardening bug bites.
•Diana Stoll is a horticulturalist and the retail manager at The Planter's Palette, 28W571 Roosevelt Road, Winfield, IL. Call (630) 293-1040 or visit planterspalette.com.