April 19th

By Mutt Mulligan

Spring Chores Part 1

Spring is officially here and there are a lot of chores to do in the garden, landscape and lawn areas.   What to do first?   We found a nice article from the Newport News Daily Press that highlighted some important, yet overlooked Spring gardening and lawn care ideas.

Here are a few ideas to consider when the sun is out, temperatures are still mild and the dog days of summer seem far off.

• Get the weeds while they are small! Cool-season weeds like chickweed will carpet the ground in spring; now they are just little baby plants and easily removed with a hoe.

• Read garden books and magazines to learn more.

• Use your garden fork to open the soil outside the drip line of your shrubs and beyond, then mulch with compost. Your shrubs will be thanking you all next season.

• One inch of compost used as mulch or laid on top of the soil under mulch will feed your ornamental landscape or your lawn for 1 year. No other fertilizers are needed.

• Use shredded newspaper as the carbon/brown matter in your compost bin. It breaks down quickly and we all have lots of it.

• Step out of the box and consider growing something you never have before and learn about it while you have the timelike veggies!

• Feed your birds. They will return in the summer to eat bad bugs.