Spring in Calgary comes with a sense of excitement for local homeowners. After many months seemingly trapped inside by the snow and ice, the change towards warmer weather brings the feeling of newness and of opportunity. There are some garden tasks that can be taken as soon as the snowpack melts, while others need to wait for the soil to start to warm up, and all spring garden bed and hedge maintenance tasks will be augmented with professional help.
Early Spring Checklist
Sometimes it might be March and some years it might be April, but eventually the snow storms turn back into rain showers, and the snowpack in your garden starts to melt. Of course, the thinnest layers will disappear first, meaning that you’ll have access to your hedges and plants before the garden beds. This means that your early spring maintenance work will be focused on these areas.
First up, you need to take care of the winter debris that has landed on your beds and hedges. This includes the smaller twigs and leaves as well as the larger branches that will weigh everything down. Clearing this debris relieves the pressures on your hedges as well as making way for sunshine and warm breezes that will help with the early season growth.
Next up, you need to investigate the branches of your hedges and shrubs to see how they coped with the winter months. You need to look for small green buds that show where new growth is going to come in, either as new branches or leaf growth. Any branch that doesn’t have these new buds should be trimmed back or cut off completely so that the plant isn’t sending unnecessary energy out and can instead focus on successful growth.
Finally, take care of any early season pruning needs. For example, most hedges will have grown vastly over the late summer and fall months, but can’t be pruned because the cuts will freeze in winter. Spring is a good time to get your hedges into the right shape to promote growth through the summer, and any cuts you make now will be ones that you can avoid later in the season.
Garden Bed Maintenance
Once the thaw reaches your garden beds, it’s time to turn your attention to getting these fertile areas ready for a good growing season. Take these steps to get your garden beds prepared:
- Test your soil – it comes as a surprise to many newbie gardeners but not all soil is created equally. Even the clean loam that you bought to fill your raised beds isn’t universally appropriate for all plants, and different areas of the city will generate different levels of phosphorus, potassium and nitrogen in the natural soil. Therefore, it’s important to test your soil, look carefully at what your preferred plants need to thrive and adjust accordingly. This means going to the garden centre and finding specific fertilisers and additives that will adjust the nutrients in your soil to make it the perfect place for growth.
- Weed control – weeds are a gardener’s worst enemy, but they are also naturally occurring plants that you just don’t like the look of. Weeding is an ongoing process, but you can set yourself up for success by completely cleaning out your garden beds with a deeper trowel to really get at the roots. If you’re into sprays and chemicals, you can find a variety of herbicides that will prevent most common weeds from growing. It is possible to recreate these using more natural sources, but nothing will replace a solid session of digging and root pulling.
- Mulch – once your soil is fertilised and clear of weeds, you want to consider your mulch options to help you retain all the nutrients and keep the weeds away. There are a wide variety of options for mulching your garden beds, ranging from the decorative colored wood chips to highly nutritious compost based mulches. For added soil nutrition, try to find a mulch that has seaweed mixed in with it – the mix of nutrients will cause your plants to explode with color and growth throughout the warmer months.
Getting Professional Help
Looking after your garden beds and hedges in the shoulder season between winter and spring can be a tricky process. It’s easy to mis-prune a hedge causing irreparable damage, and the science behind getting the perfect soil composition can make you go crazy trying to adjust levels to get everything just right. This is where working with the garden maintenance professionals at Scoop Cut N Shovel makes perfect sense. We have decades of experience working with Calgary homeowners to make their gardens look fantastic, and we know all the insider tips and tricks to start your spring the right way. We’ll even give you some advice on flower pot design to bring a new design focus to your garden.
Bundle And Save
When you talk with us about our garden bed maintenance packages, we’ll come to your property to discuss your specific needs, and we’ll agree upon a set number of hours that our work will take. While you can do this as a one off kick starter to help get your beds and hedges ready for growing, we find that many Calgary homeowners come back for more work with us, which is why we offer discounts for bundling with our other services, including pet waste clearing, summer lawn maintenance and snow and ice removal in the winter.
We save our best value for our year round property maintenance package, where you get access to all of our services throughout the year. This gives you season by season access to experts who know and understand the cycles of Calgary weather and how to get the best out of your garden. Beat the winter blues and give yourself the gift of time and a beautiful property this year by contacting us and signing up for one of our subscription packages