Spring Forward Now with Your Warm Weather Lawn and Garden Preparations!
Soon, the days will start getting longer, the sun will once again shine upon us, the grass will begin to turn green and start growing, and the tulips and daffodils will emerge from their underground dormancy…spring is a comin’! With the weather warming up soon, it is time to start thinking about preparing your gardens and lawn for the Spring and Summer growing season.
Test Soil Conditions Early
Want to have your most successful growing season ever? Whether you are growing vegetables, lawn, flowers, or a mixture of everything, the success of your gardening efforts starts with your soil!
Get to Know Your Soil
In order to improve your soil so that it is conducive to microbial life it is important to understand its structure and nutrient levels so that you know what it needs. You can learn a lot about the health of your soil by all of the outward evidence it provides. Is your soil sandy or does it feel like a lump of clay? Does it crumble perfectly when you move it around in your hands? Is it pale or really dark and almost black? Get to know the structure of your soil so you can give it the proper kind of TLC. Healthy soil should appear rich and dark and have a nice loamy texture where you can roll it into a ball, but it easily crumbles when you apply pressure to the ball with your fingers. Learn more on our Testing Your Soil’s Health page.
Get Your Soil Tested by a Professional Lab
Once you have done some basic sleuth work and have determined what kind of soil you have, you should send a sample of your soil to a professional soil testing lab to figure out where the nutrient levels stand. Plants and grass will not grow in soil where there are not enough nutrients to survive. We recommend Wallace Labs in California as they provide results and recommendations geared toward the organic approach, but there are also other reputable labs out there as well. A professional soil test gives you an idea of the pH level of your soil and what nutrients it is lacking so you can apply the right organic fertilizers and soil amendments.
Fertilize and Amend Soil
The next step for prepping your lawn and garden beds is to start fertilizing at the first signs of Spring so that soil microbes can get to work breaking down the nutrients in your organic fertilizer. This is important as microbes act as the soil sous chefs and get the nutrients prepared for plants to absorb. The healthier your soil becomes, the more soil microbes and critters you will have! A single teaspoon of healthy soil can contain billions of beneficial bacteria!
Soil microbes also improve the structure of your soil so that plant roots can dig deep and spread out for healthy plant growth. The healthier the roots, the more nutrients they can absorb, and therefore the healthier and more vibrant your plants will become. Healthy plants produce beautiful flowers, greener grass, and more nutritionally dense foods. If your soil is in real bad shape, mix in some hummus with the fertilizer to help the soil microbes restore the soil quicker.
Clean Up Garden Beds and Edging
You do not need to wait until Spring to get started cleaning up your garden beds and trimming up the edging…go on and get it done while you are thinking about it! As soon as the ground has thawed enough to clear out debris, pull out a rake and start clearing out the mess. Don’t just throw yard waste into your curbside collection can as that is a waste of a useful resource down the line– start your own compost pile and use your yard rubbish to nourish your lawn and gardens later.
If there are leftover remnants of last year’s flowers and vegetable harvests that were left to breakdown and decay on their own, now is a good time to pull out the remaining rubbish so you can start fresh this year.
Take some time to rework the edging of your lawn and trim up the borders of your gardens so that your yard is in tip-top shape for the beautiful Spring and Summer seasons ahead.
Order Seeds and Purchase Garden Supplies Now!
If you have not already done so, now is the perfect time to go online or pull out the seed catalogs and begin the process of planning and ordering your seed stock for the coming year. Purchase high-quality certified Organic Turf Seed, vegetable, and flower seeds to ensure you are not getting seeds that have been treated with synthetic herbicides and pesticides or have been genetically modified.
Take inventory of all your leftover gardening and turf care supplies from last year so you’ll know what you need to get for the season ahead. Are there any gardening tools you have been meaning to purchase but have not gotten around to doing so yet? Make sure these items make it onto your shopping list this year! Shop early to save money!
While prepping for Spring may not seem nearly as enjoyable as planting your seeds and watching them grow, taking these steps will help your plants get off to a healthy start and make your yard the envy of the neighborhood! Be sure to check out our Products Page for all of your Organic fertilizer and soil amendment needs.