Will April Showers Bring May Flowers?
April 08, 2014My Nandina shrubs, which had survived a dozen winters since being transplanted from my mother’s garden, were no match for this year’s polar vortex. Supposedly a hardy evergreen in zones 6 to 10, the snow, ice, and extreme cold were just too much. My daffodils haven’t even made an appearance yet, due to the extreme weather in the Northeast. Gardeners in the Western states weren’t spared either, having faced a severe drought followed by torrential rains. Hopefully this year April showers will still bring May flowers.
For those of you with a green thumb, this is the time of year to take a walk around your yard and check out Mother Nature’s impact on your landscaping. Simple preventative measures taken now can go a long way to preserving your perennials – saving you lots of money over the long term by not having to replace plantings. Here’s what I should have done for my own garden:
Mulching – Layering on mulch moderates soil-temperature fluctuations, holds in soil moisture, and in cold-winter areas, protects plant roots from winter cold and helps prevent frost-heaving, in which plants are literally pushed out of the ground by the natural expansion and contraction of the soil as it cools off and heats up. Mulch also inhibits weed germination and growth, since weeds are not only unsightly, they also steal resources from your garden plants!
Pruning – Trimming shrubs can protect them from storm damage. My butterfly bush had several broken branches due to the heavy ice this winter because I neglected to trim it back last year. However, if you have any spring blooming shrubs such as azaleas, lilac, and forsythia, then wait until they finish blooming.
Dividing – One of the best ways to reduce ongoing gardening costs is to divide plants such as hostas, iris, chrysanthemums and asters. This is an inexpensive way to gain additional ground cover and it can rejuvenate old plants, keeping them vigorous and blooming freely. It’s also a great way to share your green thumb with friends and family. Many of my own plants have sentimental value because they’ve come from my mother (the Nandinas), my mother-in-law (tons of hostas), and my sister-in-law (beautiful Peonies) as they have divided their own garden growth.
In this case, an ounce of prevention is truly worth a pound of cure. My spring gardening will end up costing me about $150 for mulch and close to $200 to replace my Nandinas from Home Depot, a few weekends of my time, a sore back, and a few broken nails. But having a pretty garden – priceless!