SPRING IS ALMOST HERE. IS YOUR GARDEN READY?

As the weather warms up in our area, there are various tasks ahead of us. So is your garden ready?

You can't go digging in the garden as yet. It is too wet and soggy. If you dare do some digging now, the ground will become compacted. Better hold off for a few more weeks. The only thing I do now is to scatter some Epsom salt into the garden beds. Why Epsom salt ? If you read the label on the box, it says Magnesium Sulfate. Magnesium Sulfate is a trace element that plants need to encourage new growth, promote greener leaf and bloom better.

Once the ground is workable, check the pH of your soil. Gather 1 cup of soil from 4 different areas in your garden. Put them in separate sandwich bags, label them where you get them and take them to Cornell Cooperative Extension Service and have the soil tested. Follow the recommendation of the Master Gardeners.

Now is also the time for equipment maintenance. If you did not clean up your tools last fall, now is the perfect time to clean up, oil and sharpen them. Then armed with your pruner, take a stroll through the garden. Check for plant damage and then prune broken branches and winter kill. That's about all the pruning you can do for now.

Clean the garden of debris, broken twigs, and weeds. Don't let the weeds go to seeds. Keep the chickweed out of your garden beds. It grows and seeds during the cold months and seeds now are future weeds. So get rid of them before they proliferate. Clear mulch off the bed before the spring bulbs start to come up.

While you are out there in the garden, cut some stems of spring flowerings shrubs for forcing indoor. Think spring!!!

Copyright © 2009. By Rosalinda Morgan, "The Rose Lady". All rights reserved.. *SPRING IS ALMOST HERE. IS YOUR GARDEN READY?*

If you are interested in selling or buying a home in East Norwich, Oyster Bay, Oyster Bay Cove, Brookville, Muttontown, Syosset, Laurel Hollow, Bayville, Centre Island and Mill Neck, please contact Rosalinda Morgan, "The Rose Lady".

Ph - 516-385-0584

Email - linda@rosalindamorgan.com

Website - www.rosalindamorgan.com