Category: lawn and garden

Spring gardening tips prove once again it’s time to ready, plan, and plant spring flower, vegetable, and herb gardens.

Warmer weather and longer days naturally entice us to spend more time outdoors, and gardening is the outdoor activity many enjoy come spring.

Now is the time to get your garden growing ready with these spring gardening tips.

Rooted Garden

Spring Gardening  Tips

Not all planting zones are created equal.

Some planting zones, climates, and soils ready for spring gardening quicker than others.

Find your zone by clicking on the link: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map

For the gardenistas who live in a zone not ready for planting, now is the time to get your garden growing plan together.

Remember, too, indoor container, planter, and windowsill gardens grow indoors year-round.

Spring gardening tips help you to decide your flower, vegetable and herb garden of preference and get your deck, patio, porch, terrace, or windowsill garden growing ready.

Best Choice Products 3-Tier 4x4ft Elevated Wooden Garden Bed Planter Kit

Good soil is the foundation of a good grow, and a good spring cleaning of sorts prepares the soil for proper growth.

With a garden fork, gently work the soil with a soft dig to loosen the soil.

You’ll only need to loosen the soil in a vegetable or flower garden one time in the spring.

Consult a weather app, Farmers Almanac, or give your local extension service a call to find out when the threat of Jack Frost is past before planting your vegetable or flower garden.

Most vegetables and flowers require approximately six hours of full sun each day.

Choose the area of your yard, deck, patio, porch, terrace, or windowsill that gets the most sun during the day and plant accordingly.

No sun?

No problem.

Sam Stokes Nursery offers expert tips and options for flowers that grow in full and partial shade.

What and when to plant?

Tone on Tone

For vegetables:

Top 10 Easiest to Grow Vegetables (according to The Old Farmer’s Almanac)

Tomatoes

Zucchini squash

Peppers

Cabbage

Bush beans

Lettuce

Beets

Carrots

Chard

Radishes

House & Home

Mid to late March through May is a good time to get your spring vegetable and herb garden going and growing with tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, peas, squash, eggplant, okra, basil, oregano, sage, thyme, dill, chives, rosemary, and mint.

Grow Cooking Herbs, Parsley, Thyme, Cilantro, Basil, Dill, Oregano, Sage and Assortment of 12 Culinary Herb Seeds

 

4 Terracotta Pots In Wire Basket 

If you’re wondering what vegetables to plant, think of food pairings.

Tomato and basil.

Spinach and lettuce.

Carrots and rosemary.

Corn and squash.

Good decorating pairings bring about a fresh look.

Good gardening pairings bring delicious flavor and delightful fragrance to the table.

Roberta’s 6-Piece Sumo Series Petunias

For flowers:

Mid March to early May is the rule of green thumb for planting perennials.

Annuals fare better when planted in late spring.

Clean out your flower beds by removing last year’s leftovers.

Cut back last year’s perennials and ornamental grasses to encourage healthy new growth.

Remove exhausted bulbs and divide perennials.

Consult your seed packet(s) for directions on when to plant, depth of planting, and spacing.

Color comes to call in the spring garden.

Peonies, wisteria, hyacinth, lilacs, and lilies fill your garden with gorgeous color and fragrance.

Pinterest

Round Galvanized Metal Planter With Handles

Lilacs grow best when planted in fertile soil and placed in full sun.

Lilacs will not fully bloom if overwatered.

A layer of compost followed by a layer of mulch helps to retain moisture and combat weeds.

Hummingbirds and butterflies are fascinating little creatures to watch.  Southern Living offers spring gardening tips for almost everything gardening under the sun and shade.

Ragin’ Cajun Ruellia gives a shout out to my Louisiana roots.

Bells of Fire™ Tecoma is another perennials tubular flower that attracts both hummingbirds and butterflies.

Click here to learn more plants to spring plant that will attract hummingbirds.

Ragin’ Cajun® Ruellia

I love the Cameo Japanese flowering quince in my brother’s courtyard.

A day trip to Forest Hill, Louisiana, better known as the nursery capital, to purchase a Cameo Japanese flowering quince is on the spring gardening agenda.

Azaleas in full color and full bloom means beauty and the beast I call pollen is all around as evidenced by this hot pink azalea bouquet and the pollen streams in the driveway.

Weeds are a thorn in the side, front, and back of any vegetable or flower garden.

Mulch cuts down on weeds, adds a layer of insulation, and keeps plant roots moist.

Dave the Builder used his new Craftsman Handheld Gas Leaf Blower to blow the pine needles off the roof and into the flower bed where it will be used as mulch.

Excuse our work in progress mess.

Fresh from the produce department tomatoes will do for now, but there is no substitute for fresh home garden tomatoes.

To give your tomato plants a good grow, feed the soil with a small amount of fertilizer and compost at planting time.

Jobes Organic Vegetable and Tomato Plant Food Fertilizer

Plant the roots as deep as possible.

Freshly planted tomato plants will require a daily healthy watering for a couple of weeks after planting to properly seep into the soil and moisten the area.

Garden tomatoes require at least 1-2 inches of water a week.

Low and slow applies to watering tomatoes.

Water the plants low at the stem and water slowly.

Tomato plants are slow drinkers.

Flooding the area is not what we’re going for here.

Miracle-Gro Drip and Soaker Kit

Water your tomato crop once every two or three days at the height of summer.

Early morning is the best time to water.

As summer temps soar, you may want to water the plants both in the early morning and early evening on the days you water.

Bacon sandwiches, homemade hamburgers, fresh from the garden salads, and spring to summer dishes deliciously begin and end with the homegrown tomato.

As I typed fresh from the garden salads, it reminded me of the story a friend shared with me about a dinner menu conversation she had with her husband.

The friend asked her husband what he wanted for dinner.

The husband answered in perfect course order beginning with (his words not hers nor mine) a little house salad.

Curious about what exactly the husband thought a little house salad was, the friend asked the husband to expound.

“Well, you know, it’s a little salad you make at the house.”

All I know is the husband’s vegetable garden produced the best tomatoes, cucumbers, banana peppers, squash, and radishes that went into many a fresh spring to summer salad mixed and enjoyed at their house.

Leafy greens and vegetables star in the latest entertaining trend, the edible table runner.

I’m learning more and more the best way to go in spring and summer entertaining is to set a casual and inviting table, keep the menu, ingredients, music, and conversation fresh and simple, and have plenty of homemade buttermilk dressing on hand.

House & Home

Spring Gardening Tips, Tools, & Accessories

Firm Grip Garden Gloves

Protecting your hands, skin, and feet is a must.

Sunburn, dry and weathered hands, and wet feet do not a happy gardener make.

Tirrinia Ladies Wide Brim Sun Flap Cover Cap Adjustable Beach Gardening Hat

Rain Boot Wellies Waterproof for Gardening

Crabtree & Evelyn Gardeners Exfoliating Soap

I bought two Dove Nourishing Care Intensive-Creams on at Dollar Tree, and am so glad I did.

The formula is rich, smells divine, and has good staying power without being greasy.

I like it so much I bought five more last week.

It gets my perfect for gardening hands seal of approval.

Tools

Fiskars® 3pc DuraFrame Garden Tools Set
Ames Poly Scoop 
Barebones Living Small Garden Scissors
3pc Garden Tool Set – Smith & Hawken™

Planters

White Washed Brown Faux Woven Planter 
Wakefield Handmade Anduze Manchette Planter
Aged Charcoal Cast Stone Flower Rectangular Planter
Square Charcoal Cast Stone Column Planter

Watering Cans

Metal Watering Can – Smith & Hawken™
Achla Designs Haystack Pitcher Watering Jug
Herb Print Watering Can
Perfect Pour Copper Watering Can

Garden Goodies

Kalani Large Sea Grass Utility Basket with Wood Handle
Esschert Design USA Ceramic Plant Markers
Sontax Rolling Garden Cart with Tool Tray
Deluxe Metal Pulsating Sprinkler with Tripod

 

A lovely garden statue accentuates the design and the beauty of your garden.

Children First Love Statue

Cast stone and terracotta planters in neutral tones instill a touch of European elegance.

Winter is in the rearview mirror, and our sights and tastes are set on the spring flowers and vegetables planted and produced in the spring yard, deck, patio, porch, terrace, or windowsill garden.

Happy happy joy joy!  It’s time for spring.

Officially.

Home Depot

I almost feel guilty in my time for spring celebration when I get an email from the Canadian snowbird with the following image attached.

Almost.

A jaunt to the Home Depot garden center tops the time for spring planting to-do list.

Curb appeal begins with spring cleaning, planting, updating and exterior decorating.

In order to achieve optimum spring curb appeal you gotta have the proper tools to get the job done.

A recent time for spring inventory of the tools and toys needed for the upcoming lawn and garden season resulted in the Places In The Home gang becoming proud owners of a new riding mower.

This bad boy is 15.5HP of get the job done in no time power.

In all the new lawn and garden toy excitement, Dave the Builder set the cutting height a tad too low.

Let’s just say our front yard has that freshly scalped mowed look.

That’s one way to eliminate the need to mow for a week or two.

Purple Diamond Loropetalum is good for an early blast of bloom and color.

I won’t go so far as to say it basically grows itself, but once established it is  low maintenance.

Southern Living Plant Collection Purple Diamond Loropetalum

Every time I say Loropetalum I think of sayings you only hear in the South and one I consider a classic- going by Laura’s house.

Going by Laura’s house is the term my mother’s best friend’s mother coined years ago for when she would have to go out of her way to get to her intended destination.

Miss Melba called that going by Laura’s house.

It wasn’t until recently that my mother discovered the truth about going by Laura’s house, and now we say it all the time.

How I love the sayings you only hear in the South.

HGTV inspiration strikes again.

Add a dollar store drop in to the time for spring lawn and garden list.

Sightings of buds and blooms in spring fling color usher in spring and Easter parade palettes.

You know it’s time for spring by the scents and sights of spring in full bloom.

I would love to be able to bottle the the fragrance of freshly picked wisteria to use as a linen spray on crisp cotton sheets.

Fresh flowers, delightful fragrances, visually stunning table settings, and the scent and sight of it’s time for spring in the late afternoon or evening gorgeously set the scene, mood and table for spring entertaining.

The “I Love a Charade” episode of Sex and the City is my garden party touchstone.

Good friends.

Well-appointed buffet.

Smooth tunes.

Beautifully accessorized tables.

Lilacs.

Butterflies.

The essentials of spring entertaining.

Southern Living Plant Collection Dear Dolores Hydrangea Deciduous Shrub, Pink or Blue Mophead Blooms

Hydrangeas paired with a blue and white porcelain Chinoiserie planter makes a gorgeous garden party presentation.

What’s a garden party without a garden salad?

Benjamin Moore Tomato Red  ~  Benjamin Moore Mayonnaise
Behr Asparagus  ~  Benjamin Moore Cucumber

Godinger Wheelbarrow Salad Bowl with Servers

Time, nature and the calendar tells us it’s time for spring.  Our senses alert us to spring’s arrival.  Color rich gardens show us the beauty of spring.

I do love a season that shows out.