Easter Gardening and Landscaping

Photo Source

Easter signals the onslaught of spring and warmer weather, and with many of your customers hosting traditional Easter garden events or gardening activities, it’s a busy time for gardeners and landscapers too. After all, the garden is traditionally the spot for Easter egg hunts. And it’s fair to say that Easter time is also the real marking point for typical spring season festivities, in which BBQs, dinning alfresco, outdoor games and gatherings are a regular occurrence. So, with all the outdoor fun ahead, your customers will want their garden and landscape to be in tip-top shape. And, even if your customers aren’t taking part in the Easter hoopla, they’ll certainly want to take advantage of the long weekend to get outside for some much-needed yard work! Whether you’re tending to the landscape and garden this Easter season, or your customers are, here is a list of “must-do” jobs.

1. Weeding

Certainly not the job everyone’s eager to get out and do, but a necessary one nonetheless. With bans on pesticides, organic weed killers and weed removal tools are the best way to go. Organic weed control products use a super dose of iron to remove weeds in an all-natural way. All you have to do is spray the weeded area, just as you would with traditional pesticides, and the weeds decompress in a few days. Weed pullers have also become much more user-friendly and effective, making them great alternatives to pesticides.

For a list of popular green products, check out our post on Biggest Trends in Gardening Products for Spring 2011.

2. Aerate and re-firm soil

Frost, wind and heavy snow from the winter season has hardened and disturbed the soil in your garden, thus, causing the roots of your trees and shrubs to lift and loosen. Go through and aerate and re-firm the soil, but pay attention to the weather. If the ground is wet, wait for the soil to let go of the excess water. If it is still too hard, wait for the moisture to return before digging it up.

3. Check summer flowering bulbs

Check all the stored summer flowering bulbs and remove those that are dead or diseased.  

4. Check shrubs and trees planted last winter

As mentioned above, the intense winter weather can cause the roots of trees and shrubs to lift and loosen. To prevent water from running off when watering plants and shrubs, form a dish around the root and apply bark mulch.

5. Do some last minute pruning

Most plants and trees benefit from regular pruning and maintenance. While many flowering plants should be pruned during their dormant season in late winter/early spring, some spring blooming trees will need to be pruned as soon as they start flowering. Other plants need to be pruned consistently throughout the year.

Click here for more information on how and when to prune which types of plants.

6. Sow seeds

Seed sowing is a traditional Easter activity. Work the soil into a fine tilth and make shallow holes with a fair amount of space between them to sow the seeds. Cover the seeds with soil and water well. Vegetable seeds for sowing include onions, leeks, carrots and peas.

7. Plant vegetables

Potatoes are traditionally planted at Easter. Other vegetables that benefit from cultivation at this time include carrots, cabbage and cauliflower. Tomato seeds can also be planted in pots in greenhouses and then brought out and planted in the garden in May.

8. Set out hanging baskets and container plants

Hanging baskets and container plants growing in the greenhouse or stored in the house can be brought out, permitting the weather is ideal.

9. Tend to the lawn

Weed and fertilize your lawn. For more information on green lawn care, check out this post.

10. Set Easter flowers

Place Easter flowers, such as begonias and dahlias, in trays of moist compost and place them in direct sunlight.

 

Photo Source

Popular Easter plants:

-          Tulips

-          Narcissus

-          Hyacinths

-          Lilies

2 Responses