Gardening Season Begins Now

In places with four relatively distinct seasons, most people treat gardening as a warm-weather pastime that creates beauty around the home and abundance on the table. And with Mother’s Day in the rearview mirror, now’s the time to start if you haven’t already.

Avid gardeners have been planning for months, cultivating seeds indoors, prepping their tools and so on. But those who are late to the game can still get plants into the ground and experience satisfaction of growing their own flowers and vegetables.

The first step is to know your location’s plant hardiness zone at USDA’s site. This will help you determine the optimal times to plant, as well as inform any decisions on about which trees, flowers and crops grow best in your area.

Pretty much everything is fair game for planting at this point in the season, though gardeners in the northernmost reaches of the country — Zones 3 and 4 — may need to wait until the end of the month to allow the soil to warm sufficiently and protect against a final frost.

Early-season crops such as radishes, spinach, onions, lettuce, cabbage, beets, peas and carrots can go in immediately. Depending on location, seedling tomatoes, squash, eggplant, peppers, sweet corn, cucumbers, potatoes, and herbs can be transplanted.

Continue planting warm-weather crops such as flowers and vegetables into June. Once seedlings are established, mulch to keep weeds at bay. Have stakes, cages or trellises ready for plants that climb or weigh themselves down with fruit, like tomatoes.

From here on out, maintenance is the name of the game. Keep your plants watered and fed with compost; weed if necessary. Deadhead annual flowers to keep them blooming. When vegetables mature, harvest in the early morning or evening when plants are least stressed.

Any foods you grow yourself will be healthier and more flavorful than what you buy in the store; they may even spur you to try a new recipe. And those flowers and shrubs will beautify your place and enhance your mood. Enjoy the fruits (and vegetables) of your labor!

Plant a Garden for Mom on Mother’s Day

Mother’s Day coincides with the ideal time to plant a #garden in many areas of the United States, so one good great gift idea is to get some flowers and plant them for a beautiful gift she can enjoy for months, says Life With Less Mess. If Mom is more of a food lover or home chef, plant a vegetable garden with some of her favorite produce items instead, so she has free access to healthy herbs, radishes, lettuce, squash and tomatoes. She will remember the day every time she sees a flower bloom or picks a pepper, making your gift one that keeps on giving. #MothersDay

Plan Garden Plots Before You Plant

For best results, it pays to plan your spring #garden ahead of time, says Home for the Harvest. First, decide whether you’ll be #planting in the ground, in raised beds or in containers (look for these at #thrift stores supplied by your generous donations to ClothingDonations.org) — or a mix of all three settings. Then, use a garden planner to draw a layout detailing all of the #flower and #vegetable plots, and make a calendar of each variety’s ideal seeding, planting, maintenance, and bloom or harvest dates. Leave space in the planner for your notes and observations; they’ll come in handy next year if you make #gardening an annual event. #GardeningTips

Test Garden Soils Before You Plant

While you may be able to get good #gardening results by simply tilling and #planting, it’s a good idea to perform a basic #soil test to ensure your #garden has the nutrients necessary for #flowers and #vegetables to grow to their fullest potential, Homesteading Family says. Soils need to hold carbon (humus), oxygen, water and minerals to provide a quality medium for plant growth, as well as offer a pH in the 6.5-7 range. To improve the quality of your soil quickly, invest in a quality compost — or make your own by giving raked leaves, lawn clippings and other organic materials the opportunity to break down in a bin or drum. #GardeningTips

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