Spring Work In The Garden

Not much actual work can be done in the garden, at the north, before the

middle of April. But a good deal can be done toward getting ready for

active work as soon as conditions become favorable.



Right here let me say that it is a most excellent plan to do all that

can be done to advantage as early in the season as possible, for the

reason that when the weather becomes warm, work will come with a rush,

and in the hurry of it quite likely some of it will be slighted. Always

aim to keep ahead of your work.



I believe, as I have several times said, in planning things. Your garden

may be small--so small that you do not think it worth while to give much

consideration to it in the way of making plans for it--but it will pay

you to think over the arrangement of it in advance. "Making garden"

doesn't consist simply in spading up a bed, and putting seed into the

ground. Thought should be given to the location and arrangement of each

kind of flower you make use of. The haphazard location of any plant is

likely to do it injustice, and the whole garden suffers in consequence.



Make a mental picture of your garden as you would like to have it, and

then take an inventory of the material you have to work with, and see

how near you can come to the garden you have in mind. Try to find the

proper place for every flower. Study up on habit, and color, and season

of bloom, and you will not be likely to get things into the wrong place

as you will be almost sure to do if you do not give considerable thought

to this matter. There should be orderliness and system in the garden as

well as in the house, and this can only come by knowing your plants, and

so locating them that each one of them will have the opportunity of

making the most of itself.



Beds can be spaded as soon as the frost is out of the ground, as advised

in the chapter on The Garden of Annuals, but, as was said in that

chapter, it is not advisable to do more with them at that time. If the

ground is worked over when wet, the only result is that you get a good

many small clods to take the place of large ones. Nothing is gained by

being in a hurry with this part of the work. Pulverization of the soil

can only be accomplished successfully after it has parted with the

excessive moisture consequent on melting snows and spring rains.

Therefore let it lie as thrown up by the spade until it is in a

condition to crumble readily under the application of hoe or rake.



Shrubs can be reset as soon as frost is out of the ground. Remove all

defective roots when this is done. Make the soil in which you plant them

quite rich, and follow the instruction given in the chapter on Shrubs as

carefully as possible, in the work of resetting.



If any changes are to be made in the border, plan for them now. Decide

just what you want to do. Don't allow any guesswork about it. If you

"think out" these things the home grounds will improve year by year, and

you will have a place to be proud of. But the planless system which so

many follow never gives satisfactory results. It gives one the

impression of something that started for somewhere but never arrived at

its destination.



Old border plants which have received little or no attention for years

will be greatly benefited by transplanting at this season. Cut away all

the older roots, and make use of none that are not strong and healthy.

Give them a rich soil. Most of them will have renewed themselves by

midsummer.



If you do not care to take up the old plants, cut about them with a

sharp knife, and remove as many of the old roots as possible. This is

often almost as effective as transplanting, and it does not involve as

much labor.



The lawn should be given attention at this season. Rake off all

unsightly refuse that may have collected on it during winter. Give it an

application of some good fertilizer. It is quite important that this

should be done early in the season, as grass begins to grow almost as

soon as frost is out of the ground, and the sward should have something

to feed on as soon as it is ready for work.



Go over all the shrubs and see if any need attention in the way of

pruning. But don't touch them with the pruning knife unless they really

need it. Cut out old wood and weak branches, if there are any, and thin,

if too thick, but leave the bush to train itself. It knows more about

this than you do!



Get racks and trellises ready for summer use. These are generally made

on the spur of the moment, out of whatever material comes handiest at

the time they are needed. Such hurriedly constructed things are pretty

sure to prove eyesores. The gardener who takes pride in his work and his

garden will not be satisfied with makeshifts, but will see that

whatever is needed, along this line, is well made, and looks so well

that he has no reason to be ashamed of it. It should be painted a dark

green or some other neutral color.



Rake the mulch away from the plants that were given protection in fall

as soon as the weather gets warm enough to start them to growing. Or it

can be dug into the soil about them to act as a fertilizer. Get it out

of sight, for it always gives the garden an untidy effect if left about

the plants.



Go over the border plants and uproot all grass that has secured a

foothold there. A space of a foot should be left about all shrubs and

perennials in which nothing should be allowed to grow.



If any plants seem out of place, take them up and put them where they

belong. If you cannot find a place where they seem to fit in, discard

them. The garden will be better off without them, no matter how

desirable they are, than with them if their presence creates

color-discord.



Peonies can be moved to advantage now. If you cut about the old clump

and lift a good deal of earth with it, and do not interfere with its

roots, no harm will be done. But if you mutilate its roots, or expose

them, you need not expect any flowers from the plant for a season or

two.



Get stakes ready for the Dahlias. These should be painted some

unobtrusive color. If this is done, and they are taken proper care of in

fall, they will last for years. This is true of racks and trellises.



Provide yourself with a hoe, an iron-toothed rake, a weeding-hook, a

trowel for transplanting, a wheel-barrow, a spade, and a watering-pot.

See that the latter is made from galvanized iron if you want it to last.

Tin pots will rust out in a short time.



Take your watering-pot to the tinsmith and have him fit it out with an

extension spout--one that can be slipped on to the end of the spout that

comes with the pot. Let this be at least two feet in length. This will

enable you to apply water to the roots of plants standing well back in

the border, or across beds, and get it just where it will do the most

good, but a short-spouted plant will not do this unless you take a good

many unnecessary steps in making the application.



Be sure to send in your orders for seed and plants early in the season.

Have everything on hand, ready for putting into the ground when the

proper time comes to do this.