Is your urban garden ready for spring? This season is a wonderful time to grow new plants due to the weather finally warming up after the cold winter. No matter the size of your garden, you can always take advantage of the longer days. However, you should be fully prepared for how you will manage your garden. Here are five easy steps to getting your garden ready for spring.
Step 1: Involve Your Houseplants
Urban dwellers don’t have the luxury of an unlimited space for traditional gardens filled with rows and beds of vegetables. However, they can utilize their indoor spice. Spring is a fantastic season to make your houseplants grow and multiply due to the long daylight period. It’s as easy as cutting a leaf or a stem of any houseplants such as peace lilies, snake plants, and asparagus ferns. Afterward, place the leaf, stem, or vine in a container or vase.
Place enough water in the container and the roots will begin to appear after several weeks. You can then place the cuttings in a container that has adequate potting soil. This way, you get to have new lovely plants without buying any new seeds. In fact, the propagation of houseplants allows you to share cuttings with your family and friends. You can exchange with them to improve the variety of houseplants of your respective residences.
Step 2: Clean Your Gardening Tools
Whether you simply have gardening scissors and a spade, it’s important to ensure their quality. Pruning shears should be properly cleaned. This prevents the blades from succumbing to rust and becoming dull. After all, dirty blades can harbor bacteria that is harmful to your plants. Simply use warm water, soap, and a brush to wipe away the dirt. Rusted areas can be cleaned using a steel wool.
Rinse the shears and soak them in a container filled with water and some bleach. As for spades and similar gardening tools, the process is pretty much the same. Scrub any dirt using brushes and rinse them away with water. Furthermore, it’s best to have a metal file if your gardening tools need some light sharpening. Likewise, a rag and a lubricating oil will stop the tools from developing rust and the wooden parts from getting cracks.
Here is a video of cleaning gardening tools:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9yCfU-Lbmc
Step 3: Add Nutrients Using Cooking Water
Preparing your garden does not mean having to spend a lot of money. Your spring garden checklist should include protecting your plants and improving their health. Still, this doesn’t automatically mean having to buy gardening products.
For example, any remaining water from your regular cooking session can be used for irrigation — the leftover water will even contain vitamins and minerals from the vegetables that were boiled. However, you must wait for the water to become cool since boiling water could easily kill your plants.
Step 4: Utilize Fresh Seeds
If you intend to sow seeds in your compact container garden, you should go for the freshest seeds. A lot of vegetable seeds can be stored for two or so years if they are stored in a cool, humid area with no direct exposure to sunlight. For example, tomato seeds can remain viable for sowing even after four years.
However, do note that the newest seeds will have a more consistent germination period. So if you will buy a packet of seeds, check the label to see the ideal year for planting them. You must also note when you stored the seeds from your own plants. Remembering this detail will make it easier for you to pick the freshest seeds for your spring garden.
Step 5: Use Tea and Egg Shells to Protect Plants
The proliferation of harmful bacteria and fungi during spring can be controlled with chamomile tea. Just prepare a mix of water and chamomile tea and put in a spray bottle. Apply the mix a couple of times weekly to seedlings. Likewise, placing ground eggshells around your crops will give them a calcium boost. This is good since plants without enough calcium are more prone to the blossom-end rot disease.
In conclusion, your garden can be ready for spring with just a few preparations. You don’t have to spend so much money. Instead, you just have to be patient and informed. We hope that our guide helped you out with the arrival of spring. If you have any queries, do send us a comment.
