Spring Has Arrived

Prepare Your Yard for Summer Beauty

In the Upper Midwest, winter generally brings unending gray skies, freezing temperatures and large drifts slumbering against the landscape. Many days, a gloom settles over the air—everyone waiting for life to exist outside again. Then March hits, the snow begins to melt, the sun shows its face, and green grass begins to liven the floor of the earth. Spring has arrived!

Every year, numerous area businesses play a vital role in our region’s transformational beautification. Whether they provide flowers for planters, cut back grasses on the Promenade, or create a blueprint for transforming a yard, each of these groups embrace spring and love when the world awakens for another season.

Preparing Your Yard for Rebirth

Spring clean-up generally begins early to mid-March, once the snow has melted and the frost is out of the ground. For those who maintain their own yards, early spring is best to prune trees, cut back perennial grass and clean out bushes from winter debris.

“When pruning trees in early spring, trim no more than 1/3 of the leaf mass, removing dead, damaged, overgrown or dying branches, reshaping branches for overall health,” said Barb Fuelberth, the Garden Center Manager at Ferguson’s Garden Center in Spirit Lake. “A good rule to remember is to avoid removing more than 15-20% of healthy branches in young trees and no more than 10% for mature trees.”

Erin Radcliffe, owner of Plantin’ Posies, also recommends cutting back perennial grasses down to two inches. Depending on the number of grasses on the property, she will either use a quality hand clipper or knife or a battery-powered hedge trimmer to cut back the plants.

“I usually recommend after March 15 to start spring clean-up and focus on any plants you didn’t cut back in the fall, unless the perennial has a spring bloom,” she explained. “In early spring, grasses are dead and ready to be cut back. After they are cut back and gain some spring rain, they will quickly freshen up and begin to grow.”

Spring Blooms

Every spring, when soil temperature is consistently above 40 degrees, fall bulbs like Tulips and Irises begin to arise out of the ground and buds appear on trees. Fuelberth said early May is recommended for dividing up plants like grasses, Hostas, Daylilies, Allium, and Phlox.

“You want to dig up the whole plant, taking off any unhealthy areas, divide up the plant and then replant the sections. Add root stimulator to the brand-new plants and water well, as the plants will be angry for several weeks,” she said.

While peonies are another early bloomer, other plants may take a while to awaken from their winter slumber. “I recommend always waiting. It is best to be patient because many plants just take a while, especially Hibiscus, Hostas, Roses, and Hydrangeas,” Fuelberth added.

If you question a plant, pull on the plant slightly or dig around the roots to see if any green appears underneath the bark. Warm water with fish emulsion is often considered a gentle natural fertilizer. Roses are also slow, and it is best to wait to prune their branches until after Mother’s Day.

“You don’t need to over water to wake things up. If you don’t see any growth yet, it doesn’t necessarily mean the plant needs a bath,” Fuelberth shared. “Every season is different, and plants have different growth periods.”

Ground Preparation

Another vital part of spring preparation is eliminating any appearing weeds, adding a good Preen, and then replacing the mulch.

“You can go over the top of the previous mulch, unless you dealt with a bug or disease during the last growing season,” Radcliffe said. “Then clean out as much as possible and treat the soil with appropriate materials.”

Over the years, Radcliffe has found she prefers to use a cedar shredded mulch, “It’s thicker than most mulch, which makes it a good barrier for weeds.”

She also recommends waiting to plant annuals outdoors until after Mother’s Day or when frost is no longer in the forecast.

Creating Beautiful Planters

Roger and Nancy DeVries at Cottage Gardens recommend when planting in a large container for the first time, to partially fill it with a filler such as chunks of Styrofoam, empty water bottles, or other filler. Packing peanuts or other loose Styrofoam are not advised, as they can be hard to clean up. Also consider using fresh potting soil each season in smaller pots. For large pots, it is best to remove at least one-third of the old soil and replace it with new soil.

“When designing your container, the ‘Thriller, Filler, Spiller’ idea gives results that please the eye,” Roger DeVries of Cottage Gardens explained. “But first make sure to use a good, quality planting soil mixture and maintain regular fertilizer days throughout the summer.”

A Thriller plant is a tall plant placed in the center of the pot if the pot is seen from all sides. If the container is placed against a wall or fence, then put the Thriller in the back. The type of plant can vary and often depends on interest and other plants used in the pot. Some people will use a spike or grass, while another person may pick a Dipladenia or a Hibiscus. Many gardeners will enjoy the new color Dipladenia Sunparasol Fired Up Orange in their arrangements this season.

The next plant(s) are Fillers and usually a more mounded plant with blooms, such as a Petunia, Geranium, Daisy or Marigold, or mounded foliage like a Coleus or Dusty Miller. Petunias and Geraniums offer the container multiple color options and tend to be hardier options for our region. New ideas for this season: Ferguson’s Garden Center is showcasing the Firefly Petunia, which uniquely glows in the dark at night. Cottage Gardens will be featuring the Tango Strawberry Ice Geranium and the Supertunia Hoopla Vivid Orchid Petunia.

A Spiller plant tends to have a trailing habit to flow over the container’s edge and can either be a blooming plant, such as a Petunia, Calibrachoa or Verbena, or a trailing foliage plant like Dichondra, Mezoo or Vinca Vine, or a combination of both.

“There are endless combinations, and this design plan is only a suggestion, nothing is really ‘wrong’ when it comes to designing containers,” Nancy DeVries of Cottage Gardens added. “Sometimes things don’t always turn out like we expect, either for better or worse, so just remember—there’s always next year! Just have fun and enjoy planting!”

Perennials Every Year

For those new to gardening, an annual is replanted every growing season, while perennials come back year after year and are generally planted in late May to early October. These are flowers or plants that will go dormant in the winter months and reappear once warmer temperatures are maintained.