Spring, for most of us in USD’s cold hardiness zones 9 and 10, arrives in March. It’s the best time to be gardening. As Francis Bacon said, “Gardening is the purest of human pleasures.”
The most important thing you can do…before you put plants in, and even before you buy the plants, make sure your soil is ready to accept them. Add compost to your soil. Actually, you can lay your compost down in February and give it time to inoculate your garden soil with beneficial microbes and mycelium. If you’re lucky, earthworms may find your garden and begin their own enriching underground plowing.
As Skip Richter writes in his book Month-By-Month Gardening in Texas: “Seventy-five percent of your success has been determined by the time you actually plant.”
Plan your garden, whether you’re planting vegetables or flowers. Decide what kind of light and moisture they need. Buy plants and varieties that are adapted to our zones. Choose ornamentals that are either native or adapted to our climate. If they need fertilizers, use an organic, slow release one.
Here’s to a bountiful spring garden.
