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| This is probably my third year gardening. I am wiser but still learning. My question is what I should be doing for spring cleaning? There are plants with dead twigs, should I be removing those twigs and fallen leaves?
Paul |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by gardenweed_z6a 6a CT (My Page) on Thu, Mar 15, 12 at 5:23
| I'm beginning spring clean-up since the weather looks to be consistently warm the next week or so. Autumn leaves that fell and/or straw I spread over a few new perennials last fall can be raked clear of the flower beds. Last year's dead foliage is cut or pulled away from the plants' crowns and discarded along with any of last season's stems that may have remained through the winter. I'll wait another week before cutting back butterfly bush stems. Haven't seen any sign of baptisia/false indigo pushing up through the soil and that's generally my sign that spring has truly arrived. I'm seeing new growth on columbine but it's tiny yet, with leaves just beginning to form. Nice thing about spring garden clean-up is there's no rush to get it done by any particular date. We have half of this month plus much of April & May to get the chores done. |
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- Posted by purpleinopp 8b AL (My Page) on Thu, Mar 15, 12 at 12:07
| There are plants with dead twigs, should I be removing those twigs and fallen leaves? I don't usually remove that stuff until I see signs of new growth, then trim & usually just leave it lie as mulch or put it in the compost if it's too bulky for that. |
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- Posted by prairiegirlz5 10 (My Page) on Mon, Mar 19, 12 at 0:23
| We have been having unusually warm weather (in the 80s!) in the Chicago area, after a very mild winter. Everything is popping up already, so I have been cutting back some of the dead grasses (calamagrostis) and cleaning up leaves and dead stems at a frantic pace. Glad I got to the lungwort early, it Bloomed on March 17th this year! Incredible. |
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| I put other people's bagged leaves on my beds for the winter and I am pulling back those leaves to the edges of the beds now. I will spread them back on the soil later after the soil warms up. And when a frost comes again I will cover some of the tender growth. The weather is so nice now The plants and I think winter is over but I am afraid that is not true. I cut back the dead growth after new foliage emerges. Those dead stems can have beneficial insect eggs in them so I usually leave them on the beds after I cut them. |
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| I have gone through and done my cleanup however with the crazy warmth we have had on top of the already mild winter my garden is looking like april 19th not march 19th Im wondering what I need to do should its its cold again. You name a plants its showing growth except my lillies. Anyway what can i do? I have plants to cover the whole thing with blankets or its just tossing leaves over each plant enough or will most perennials be fine with w light frost? Any advice would be great. I like in Southern Ontario in an urban setting. Thanks again Ray |
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- Posted by plantingman 6a (SC Kansas) (samnsarah620@yahoo.com) on Tue, Mar 20, 12 at 15:41
| I started my Spring clean-up too. I cut last years stems off of the mums. We had a very mild winter here in SC Kansas. My mums were already growing back in late January. They are now 6-7 inches tall, so I pinched them last night. I will be transplanting some of them this Saturday to fill in some gaps and to give a few away before I pinch them again. I also tilled a garden spot for the lanatanas I will be moving to make room for some Weigela 'Wine & Roses' shrubs and a Ninebark 'Summer Wine' shrub. I haven't seen my Blue Angel hostas emerge yet, but I did clear the mulch away from where the eyes will eventually be emerging. I love this time of year. It's so nice to see everything in the gardens starting to "wake up." |
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- Posted by cearbhaill Zone 6b Eastern KY (My Page) on Sun, Apr 1, 12 at 13:59
| I finished my whole clean-up yesterday after a couple of weeks of marathon days. Pulled every single weed by hand and tossed them into a big old garbage can I drag along with me. I must have emptied that thing into the compost 200 times over the course of the last three weeks- the weed heap is enormous. I don't think the first one even died during what passed for "winter" this year! As I go I trim out dead bits, shape up things that need to be shaped, and hard prune things like hydrangeas. Of course some pruning needs to wait but by and large I try and cover every square inch of my ornamental beds on my hands and knees at least once a year so I can keep my eye on things. We have used five truckloads of hardwood mulch so far and may need one more to top off some areas. When we are putting down mulch I always tell the husband to spread it thick but make it go far, LOL, and the last areas done on any given day can be thin because he wants to get the whole zone done and I am too tired to nag him about how he is doing it. Then we have to go back and top it off, haha. I am SO thankful that I got this early start and am hoping for the chance to just sit outside and look at things without my eyes automatically going to whatever needs done. |
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