Prepare Your Garden for Planting

In many hardiness zones, March is the best month to prepare your #garden for the #growing season. Tackle maintenance and preparation tasks such as cleaning out beds of debris, raking up mulch and pruning trees and shrubs, Better Homes & Gardens says. Divide #perennials before #spring growth begins to keep them healthy while adding to your garden or sharing extras with friends. Perform any needed upkeep on infrastructure such as edging and walkways, and clean and reintroduce outdoor furniture. By the end of the month, you should be able to safely #plant many cool-weather vegetables such as radishes, peas and potatoes. #GardeningTips

Gardening Season Has Begun

An unusually cold and rainy spring has finally given way to warm and sunny weather in most of the country. If you haven’t yet planted your summer #vegetable or #flower #garden, there is no time like the present.

While starting seeds indoors is the #thriftiest option, you’ll likely need to turn to the local garden center for plants that are ready to go into the ground. Now is the perfect time to plant summer-maturing plants such as corn and tomatoes.

All is not lost if you start a little late, Gilmour says. You can plant a couple of weeks late in the season, or choose vegetables, fruits and flowers that thrive and produce late in the growing season.

You’ll need to prepare the soil for whatever plants you pick. Vegetables grow best in rich, crumbly, loam soil, says Family Handyman. Tilling and amending sandy or clay soils with compost, peat, manure and other soil builders can help plants thrive.

After planting, press the soil surrounding your seedling firmly in place and water as needed. You may need to support plants such as tomatoes (which grow too tall to support their own weight) or send out vines (like grapes and beans).

Why do all of this? Because you can often get a much more flavorful and nutritious end product than you’d ever be able to buy at the grocery store at a fraction of the price. We at The Organizing Blog plant a variety of tomatoes every year for that simple fact. Is there anything better than a #homegrown tomato?

If you prefer decorative gardening, a perennial garden only requires a little bit of thinning each year. That said, you’ll want to weed and tend any beds soon, and help new plants get established to fill in any bare spots.

Container gardens, too, are an excellent option for those low on space. To slash the cost of getting started or adding to a container garden, shop the #thrift stores supplied by generous donations to ClothingDonations.org for lightly used pots and window boxes.

Whatever you decide to grow, gardening can be a relaxing and rewarding hobby that requires only a little bit of attention each week. And the time to get started is now!

Prep Containers for Summer Gardening

Container #gardening is a great option for those who are short on #garden space or looking to dress up porches and walkways with accent plants. Before you plant, give your pots a good scrub and ensure they can drain properly, says Plant Perfect. For best results, line containers with peat and use new #potting mix rather than regular topsoil. And if you’re short on garden containers, pots and baskets, look no further than the thrift stores supplied by generous donations to ClothingDonations.org — and shop early to find a selection of one-of-a-kind, lightly used castoffs that you can repurpose for your dream garden.