Getting ready for Spring

Spring has finally arrived! Its a great time of year for building houses (we think every time of the year is good for home building) and being outside and gardening. We decided to track down an article on gardening to share with you. While looking around HGTV's website we found Top 10 Rules for Spring Gardening and thought it was very timely and something you might find helpful! So here goes:

10. Work the soil only when its moderately dry. Tiling, walking on or cultivating soil when it is wet leads to creating something akin to adobe: the whole structure of the soil is destroyed

9. If your soil is too wet to work use raised beds to enable earlier planting in the spring. The soil in the raised beds drys out and warms up faster then the surrounding earth

8. Plant cool season plants such as peas, onions, Swiss chard, spinach and lettuce in early spring so they mature before hot weather arrives. Delay planting warm weather crops until you're safely past the last spring frost and the soil has warmed sufficiently.

7. Know your zone. Whether you use USDA or sunset zones, choose your plants not only for color hardiness but for heat tolerance as well. Peonies don't bloom where winters are mild.

6. Ease your transplants into your garden. If you've started seedlings indoors, expose them gradually to the conditions they'll have in the garden: start the pots off with only a few hours in a sunny place and then gradually increase the amount of sun before installing the transplants in the garden

5. The best amendment for your soil is one you can make yourself: compost! If you don't already have a compost pile, start one now.

4. Prune summer blooming shrubs such as abelia and butterfly bush in early spring. Buds form on the new wood that emerges that same year, cutting spend flowers on your butterfly bush will product more flowers

3. Hydrangeas are the exception to the pruning rules for summer flowering shrubs. They need to be pruned in the fall.

2. Rotate your veggie crops, growing them in different spots then previous seasons. Tomatoes are especially vulnerable to diseases that may linger in soil or in plant residue.

1. Stretch before you start gardening! Yard work is hard work and and you'll help prevent injury if you warm up and stretch before hand.