This is the perfect time of year to enjoy the warmer weather while sprucing up your garden.
We’ve gotten through a few frosty nights and even had a couple of hard freezes this year. By now, though, our yards, lawns and plants should begin to recover. The drab browns and grays we lived with in January and February hopefully have given way to that oh-so-specific pale green of new leaves on trees and shrubs. Our yards are coming back to life!
Once the risk of hard freezes has passed —usually by March 20 or so — it’s safe to get out in the yard and do some pruning to remove deadwood and for shaping. Although a freeze in late March is unlikely, if you really want to be cautious, go ahead and prune, but only plants you know you can move or protect/cover if we get another freakishly cold night. I have one small camellia and a gift canna lily that I’d cover if needed but everything else outside will have to get by on its own. That being said, as advised in previous columns: RUP — Resist the Urge to Prune.
The UF/IFAS Marion County Extension Services suggests, “…freeze damage should not be pruned back until you see new growth emerging later in the spring. If it is possible to postpone clipping the plant back, try to hold off until at least March.”
Of course, there are other tasks/chores/fun stuff to do out there. I reward myself after doing a yucky chore with a fun one. Rake up dead branches and debris balanced by making a new container garden, for example. Pull weeds and Bermuda grass balanced by repotting a couple of houseplants and cooing to them (thereby exuding carbon dioxide, which plants love.) Clean out and organize the potting table balanced by buying new bird seed and changing out the bird baths. Make a landfill run balanced by a stop by a nursery to —wait for it — buy new plants.
You can also turn and refresh your mulch, and help make healthier soil by adding compost, coffee grounds, leaves, vegetable cuttings, eggshells and other compostables. If you’ve been a good gardening doobie all winter and used a compost bin, give it a turnover and use some of that lovely black gold in your new beds.
One benefit to living in this central north Florida area is that springtime creates lots of leaf drop as the trees push out old leaves and start growing beautiful new ones. I have a fairly treeless property, but several of my neighbors willingly spend their time raking up leaves, bagging them and putting them at the curb for the garbage service to pick up. I’m not shy about knocking on their doors and asking if I can dispose of those leaf bags for them. One close-by neighbor annually rolls over with a few garbage bins full of leaves that he kindly deposits in my backyard. Win-win!
This is also a good time to think about what you want to take out of your landscape. Do you want to focus on the front yard and curb appeal aspect, or do more in the backyard where you might spend more of your time? What would bring you the most joy? For me, I do what’s needed in my front yard to keep it looking decent, but, honestly, there’s not much out there that I, ya know, actually care about.
I spend most of my outside time in the backyard, so that’s where I spend my time and money. I spend more dollars on plants and shrubs around my bird feeder and bird bath area than I do for the front lamp-post bed that I only see when I’m using my driveway. I’ve created a little vignette with my solar-powered fountain that entertains me, the squirrels, the cats and the birds. You may have other priorities, and taking the time to think it out will let you get more bang for your gardening buck.
If you decide to get new plants, March and April is the perfect time for transplanting. The plants are ready to grow new roots and leaves, and the soil is still cool enough it won’t cause an issue. They can settle in and get established before the hard heat of summer comes around in June.
Enjoy these next spring months and appreciate the colors, scents and beauty that nature offers this time of year.
A native Floridian and lifelong gardener, Belea spends her time off fostering cats and collecting caladiums. You can send gardening questions or column suggestions to her at belea@magnoliamediaco.com
