Early to Mid-Spring Garden Tips: Protect your Garden from Frost

Start cultivating your garden from the moment that first spring flower shows off its gorgeous bloom.

Early to Mid-Spring Garden Tips : Garden Basics : HGTVGardens.

After the long winter the first hint of spring in the air means that it’s time to start tidying and preparing the garden for the warmer months to come. You’ll still need to watch out for frost, but look ahead, and start planning your spring and summer borders.

Protect Against Frost

March and April can still be frosty, especially at night, so keep an eye on the weather forecast, and protect tender plants if a frost threatens. Cloches, horticultural fabric, or even cut-down plastic bottles will give frost protection. You can also use cloches on areas of bare soil to warm it up for sowing.

Transplant Seedlings

If you come across any self-sown annual or biennial seedlings in your beds and borders, pot them up or transplant them to a more permanent growing location if necessary. You can begin to harden off seedlings raised in pots under cover, but do not plant them outside until the threat of frost has completely passed.

Feed Fish

March is the time to start feeding fish in your ponds. Take stock of your plants: marginals may need trimming, and aquatics may need moving or dividing. Pond pumps can now be taken out of storage, checked, and replaced in the pond.

Neat Lawns and Borders

Spruce up your lawns and borders for spring. Start by mowing the lawn after its winter break, then trim and tidy any ragged edges by hand. Inspect the lawn, checking for perennial weeds, and reseed any bare patches. In borders, keep an eye out for germinating weed seedlings, and remove them with a hoe when you spot them. Once your beds and borders are tidy, mulch them with a thick layer of organic matter to suppress weeds.

Guard Against Slugs and Snails

Young growth is particularly vulnerable to attack from slugs and snails, so protect it using a barrier method, such as copper tape, egg shells, or a line of coarse sand, or scatter slug pellets.

Protect Fruit Blossoms

Late frost can still happen in early spring, so be careful to protect fruit blossoms and young fruitlets until there is no further threat. The buds and flowers of peaches, nectarines, and cherries open early and are prone to frost damage. Protect wall-trained and free-standing trees with fabric.

Plant Trees

Use your last chance to plant bare root trees in March, while they are still in a near-dormant state. If you have missed out on bare root stock, container-grown trees can be planted throughout spring and will be available from garden centers. If you plant young fruit trees and bushes, pinch off any flowers this year to encourage a good root system.