8 Simple Ways to Get Your Garden Ready for Spring Planting

Prune Trees and Shrubs

The first step in getting your garden ready for spring begins in mid-to-late winter with pruning.

• Use sharp, sterilized shears, loppers, or a saw to cut away any dead or damaged growth, remove crossing branches, and shape the plant.
• Prune fruit trees six to 12 weeks before your hardiness zone's last frost date, ideally after the coldest temperatures have passed but before buds have formed.
• Most shrubs and roses can also be pruned around this time.
  

Check Tools and Equipment

Inspect your gardening tools and equipment before the growing season begins.

• Repair or replace broken tools.
• Wash tools with mild soap and warm water. Hose down large pieces of equipment, like rakes and shovels. Clean your garden gloves.
• Use a wire brush and damp cloth to clean wooden handles. Treat clean, dry handles with mineral oil to keep them from splintering.

Inventory Seeds and Supplies

Inventory any seeds, bulbs, or other propagation material you saved from previous seasons.

• Don't buy seeds before you check your inventory. Many seeds remain viable for years, so you can save money by using the seeds you already own.
• Organize your seeds, take a paper inventory, and cull any seeds you're not interested in growing this year.
• Donate seeds, share them with friends, or swap them with fellow gardeners.

Plan Your Garden

Armed with your seed inventory and wishlist for your garden. Start designing your garden. Determine the following:

• What do you want to plant?
• Where will you put it?
• When does it need to get started (indoor sowing, direct sowing, or nursery starts)?
• Consider hardiness zone, sun exposure, soil type, and growth habit. Tall plants will need to be on the north side of shorter plants if the shorter plants need good sun exposure.
• Plan for colors and leaf patterns once in bloom. You don't want them to clash.
• Think about harvest times. Keep plants with similar harvest times together.

Order Seeds and Plant Starts

Once you have a garden plan, order seeds. If you prefer to shop in person, buy seeds at local plant shops, nurseries, and garden centers. Sourcing seeds locally has an added benefit: Shops typically stock varieties that do well in your growing zone.

You can order online from seed companies and even buy plant starts, although wait until the weather is warm enough to ship live plants. Also, check out local farmers' markets and farmstands; they may take pre-orders for spring and summer vegetable starts.

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Clean Up Garden Beds and Planters

As planting time draws near, tidy up garden plots, raised beds, and planters. Remove fallen sticks, leaves, dead vegetation, and other debris. Look for old plant tags, broken stakes, missing tools, and trash that may have blown into the garden.

Prepare the Soil

Prepare garden beds and containers a few weeks before planting time.

• Rake off any mulch, such as straw or shredded leaves; you may have used to cover the soil for winter.
• Pull any early weeds that may have sprung up.
• Tilling or turning over the soil with a fork or shovel was considered necessary to work in fertilizer; however, many gardening experts now recommend a no-till approach. Instead, organic compost can be added to the soil surface in raised and in-ground beds.
• Refresh pots and planters with fresh potting mix or top-dress them, spreading a thin layer of compost over the soil.

Start Seeds Indoors

Indoor seed starting is one of the best ways to save money when planting your garden.

• Check seed catalogs and packets for when to start seeds indoors versus direct-sowing them in your garden. Depending on your hardiness zone and the variety, you may need to start seeds in late winter or early spring—anywhere from six to 12 weeks before your zone's last frost date.
• Some seeds may need special treatment to germinate well, such as stratification—a cold period—so include the required time in your planning.
• Check the "days to maturity" number, which will help you determine when those plants should be ready to harvest based on the date you plant them.
• Make sure to add extra time to harden off seedlings before you plant them in the garden.