Most gardeners know the importance of properly preparing the garden for the spring season. Indeed, without cultivating the soil and using the necessary fertilizers, it will be so difficult to get a good harvest. That’s why the most experienced garden owners know that the greatest amount of work awaits them in the spring. With the onset of the first warm days, they must not only enrich the soil and prepare it for sowing, but also eliminate any damage caused by frost and severe winds.
In order to avoid all mistakes and get the best harvest, you need to know in what order you should prepare your garden for spring and what activities should be done to avoid affecting the normal development of plants by various pests.
The choice of planting material
From the very beginning, to prepare your garden for the spring season and to ensure a good yield, it is necessary to carefully examine all the planting material you have. At this stage, many inexperienced gardeners make serious mistakes that affect the final result. This is due to the fact that they plant seeds or bulbs of different plants in the soil, without being processed beforehand.
This can be especially dangerous if, for example, the planting material has white rot – because you can not only spoil the harvest of a particular plant, but also infect the entire surrounding area with a similar disease. And to overcome this unwanted event you will have to go through a long and tiring process. Therefore, before preparing the soil, it is necessary to carefully check all planting materials.
In addition, experts recommend treating all plant seeds with a manganese solution. To do this, you need an ordinary bucket (with a volume of about ten liters) filled with water at room temperature and about two tablespoons of potassium permanganate (KMnO4).
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If you see the slightest signs of white rot on the bulbs or seeds, you should immediately discard all the seedlings, as they will be completely unsuitable for planting. You will also need to pay attention to how the roots of the seedlings appear. After all, a sick root system will never bring you the desired result.
Most experienced gardeners recommend starting planting seedlings at the end of March. This applies mainly to plants and flowers that cannot be planted directly in the ground. In order for them to give a good harvest in the future, such plants must be planted in a cool room, the temperature of which will be about 10 °C. You can place the plant seeds in the already prepared boxes. Some seedlings must first be planted at higher temperatures, and after the outside temperature is at least 15 °C, they can be planted in the ground. These include most vegetables and flowers.
The careful study and inspection of the planting material is one of the most important processes, necessary for the qualitative preparation of the garden for the beginning of spring. After identifying sick and healthy plants, as well as planning how you will plant one or another of the chosen species, you will be able to obtain high yields in the end and avoid many problems.
Primary preparation of the garden
Even before you start planting your plants, it is important to do a major clean-up of the entire garden. This involves removing various debris, cleaning the surface of various building materials, removing foliage and dry branches. This procedure is important for a simple reason – in such residues throughout the winter a large number of pests could appear, grow and reproduce, which, with the arrival of spring, will immediately destroy all the production in your garden.
All work on such a plan is recommended in cloudy weather. After all, too much sun can damage plants that have just emerged after a few months of winter. Don’t forget the ornamental or fruit trees. To prepare them for the beginning of the spring period, you will need to carefully inspect all shoots and cut off those that are dry or diseased. These include plants such as jasmine, currant, Japanese quince or even roses.
If you have a variety of perennial plants in your garden, then all their shoots from last year should be cut to no more than 50%. In order not to harm the plants while cutting them, you need to use a special sharp saw, as well as garden water – a mixture that disinfects and treats the wounds of the plants, helping them to heal as quickly as possible.
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If you have winter shelters, then all experienced gardeners recommend that you remove them at the end of March, when the weather is already warmer. Like all other preparatory work, these procedures should be carried out on a warm but cloudy day. Thus, you can avoid damage to the plants by aggressive sunlight. If you cover your garden with straw or jute mats, you can save these materials until the next use. All other options (leaves, wire branches, cardboard, sawdust, etc.) can be collected and thrown into a pile destined to obtain compost.
When pruning fruit trees, you will need to pay special attention to the shape of the crown. If you have fruit trees in your garden, you may have already noticed that most of them have a pyramid-like crown. Thus, its branches grow mainly upwards, being at the same time at a sharp angle. To increase the yield of the plant, you will need branches that grow a little to cut, leaving only those that point downward. And vice versa – if the trees grow in your garden and have a predominantly sloping crown shape, then in order to balance their shape, you will need to cut the branches that hang down.
In addition, old trees should be pruned periodically. This procedure is called anti-aging pruning and is mainly carried out to slightly reduce the height of the crowns, thus improving the degree of illumination. For some trees, it is necessary to open the center more – cut a certain amount from the upper part of the trunk and then thin the entire crown completely, removing old dry branches or those that are directed inside the crown or that cross each other.
Fish control
All people who build their own garden intend to harvest fresh and healthy fruit. However, not everyone knows that to get such a result, we need to work a lot and hard. Especially now, when many gardeners complain about various parasites and plant diseases, which are sometimes quite difficult to get rid of.
And no matter how much you would like to use only natural materials in your garden, to overcome pests, it is necessary to resort to various chemical treatments. This is especially true at the beginning of spring, because during the winter a sufficient amount of harmful bacteria and fungi accumulates in the soil.
It is important to have experience in the field of treating gardens against different pests. Indeed, otherwise, gardeners risk not only losing a battle against them, but may lose the harvest for one or even several seasons. Many experienced gardeners have their own set of rules to follow in order to prepare the garden for spring and get rid of harmful microorganisms.
Basic rules of pest control in the garden
The most important points that you should pay attention to when processing the garden against pests do not refer to a specific season. However, it is most often recommended that such procedures be carried out in the spring, when all plants wake up from hibernation and prepare for the new season.
The following rules will help you avoid mistakes when handling plants:
- If in order to get rid of harmful microorganisms you use a variety of sprayers, it is important to know that in this case, the procedure should be as follows: first of all, you need to work the crowns of the trees, and finally, the trunk and the soil next to him;
- In order for pest remediation to work as efficiently as possible, it is necessary to select the optimal time for carrying out the treatment. Many gardeners recommend starting these activities early in the morning, in dry and windless weather conditions. It is very important that there is no strong humidity during the treatment itself. Considering all these aspects, the result of using the anti-pest mixture will be visible as soon as possible;
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- In order not to harm the plants, it is important to correctly calculate the exact amount of solution that will be the most effective in a given case. Most often, all the proportions of the sprayer can be seen on the package or in the instructions that come with it. Normally, for a young tree it is assumed that about one liter of solution is used, and for an adult – about five liters. For a variety of shrubs, depending on their height, up to one and a half liters of liquid can be consumed;
- To rid trees of a variety of pests, it is important to treat them both before and immediately after flowering. To do this, use a special solution of 40 grams of copper (oxychloride) in combination with 8-10 liters of water;
- Plants grown from seed often suffer from harmful microorganisms such as rot. In order to protect a certain plant, but also to protect the entire surface of the garden from the spread of pests, timely prevention is necessary. Gardeners recommend performing this action at the beginning of spring, using a urea solution;
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- Purchase all the necessary tools that will help you in the fight against pests. First of all, buy sprayers that will help you save time in processing the garden. To bathe tree trunks, you probably need a special bath tub. Remember that all garden equipment requires a lot of attention. After each use, these devices must be rinsed well with water, then dried and always ventilated;
- Do not forget the safety rules. Before using any substance, read all the directions on the packaging. Review all precautions that must be observed. During the treatment of the garden against pests, be sure to wear glasses and close the airways with a pharmaceutical gauze bandage or a special cardboard mask. This will help to avoid the occurrence of a respiratory disease or an allergic reaction to the substance in question. Some medicines tend to cause chemical burns. Therefore, before using them, make sure that you get a special protective suit and rubber gloves.
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Considering all the above rules, you will be able to see the result of your actions as soon as possible. Of course, processing the garden and preparing it for spring is quite a difficult process, especially in terms of ridding the land of various pests. However, once you get into the rhythm, you will be able to perform all the necessary steps quickly and efficiently and enjoy a good harvest.
Stages of processing the garden
Considering the main aspects to which attention must be paid when processing the garden against pests, it is necessary to remember all the stages of these works. As I mentioned above, all experienced gardeners recommend treating plants with chemicals early in the morning (until ten o’clock) or late in the evening, when the sun is below the horizon.
A special process of treating the garden will depend on the condition and development of the plants. That is why there are several time intervals in which certain manipulations are done:
- early spring;
- the period before the buds appear on the plants,
- before and after flowering,
- as soon as the fruit begins to set on fruit trees.
To get rid of harmful microorganisms in the spring, it is necessary to spray the entire garden even in late autumn. This will protect the trees from various rodents and other pests. In addition, this treatment will save the bark of the plant from severe frosts and cold winds. In the spring, as soon as the snow begins to melt, after a thorough cleaning of the land, gardeners begin to prepare to get rid of a variety of insects. First of all, the trunks of all the trees are cleaned of various fungi, then the plants are treated with a lime solution.
This procedure is necessary to destroy insect larvae that may remain in the bark of trees after winter. In addition to milk of lime, there are several other more modern tools. They have a lower cost, due to their high efficiency. Special spraying solutions can protect your garden from harmful insects and small rodents. In addition, today there are solutions that contain special substances that protect trees from serious diseases.
Processing plants before budding
The next step in preparing your garden for spring is to process the plants before the buds appear on them. This procedure is performed to protect the trees from pest larvae and bacteria that can cause a variety of diseases.
Diseases of garden plants include the following: anthracnose, verticillosis, moniliosis, etc. To get rid of pathogens, it is necessary to use specially designed chemical products. Before you start using these substances, you must carefully study their instructions for use. After all, not every substance is suitable for one or another type of plant.
Some gardeners prefer to prepare protective equipment with their own hands. To do this, they use a variety of herbs, tobacco and orange peels. The process is quite simple: in a large jar you need two hundred grams of tobacco. You can also add a small amount of onion skins and garlic, elderflowers or nettles.
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After that, all the ingredients should be covered with warm water. A tightly closed container is stored in a warm and dark place for about a week, after which it is ready for use. The resulting concentrate must be diluted with a small amount of warm water. Then you can start spraying the garden, repeating the process once a week, before the trees begin to bloom.
Before the appearance of the first bud on the branches of the trees, they must be treated against the invasion of caterpillars from the codling moth (which mainly attacks the apple). To do this, many experienced gardeners recommend the use of granulovirus preparations that must first be dissolved in several liters of warm water. During flowering, it is better not to carry out any activities regarding the treatment of gardens against pests.
As soon as the flowering period is over, the necessary prophylaxis must be carried out to boost the plants’ immunity. Furthermore, many gardeners treat trees with tick repellent at the end of spring. The most common method is to dilute colloidal sulfur in soapy water.
Diseases and pests in the garden during fruit emergence
The procedures that help protect the fruits and trees from rodents and pests are the final stage of spring garden processing. This activity is entirely optional. As a result, before proceeding with its implementation, it is necessary to thoroughly inspect the plants to detect the presence of specific opponents. The use of chemicals is not advised if no harmful microorganisms have been discovered.
When spraying trees, a variety of substances with varying modes of action are used. This is due to the fact that strong chemicals can seriously harm future crops. During these works, it is critical to keep the air humidity as low as possible. Otherwise, the trees’ leaves may be damaged.
Many people try to completely abandon a variety of chemicals, doing all these preparations on their own. However, in some cases it is necessary to resort to strong solutions to protect the plants. After carrying out the above work, you can give the garden a complete elimination of a variety of harmful microorganisms, which will significantly increase your future harvest.
Rules for fertilizing the soil in early spring
A certain amount of fertilizer must be applied to the soil for any garden to produce its maximum yield. Gardeners are aware of their poor soil quality even as they begin to prepare their gardens for spring. As a result, before planting different crops, they must use a variety of additional nutrients. Gardening is best done with organic or mineral fertilizers.
Compost is the best fertilizer, according to all experienced gardeners. It has the ability to enrich the earth with nutrients while also saturating it with the necessary amount of oxygen. The compost contains all of the necessary substances for the plants to develop normally and have a high level of resistance to pests and diseases.
One of the most important advantages of this fertilizer is its organic structure. Unlike a variety of chemicals that, if used improperly, can damage plant leaves, compost does not affect their vital activity.
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Compost can be purchased from any specialty store. However, many experienced gardeners prefer to do it themselves. To do this, each plot must have a specially prepared place for the compost pile. Nowadays, you can find special containers – the so-called thermal composters, which are closed containers of various sizes. They do not spoil the appearance of the land and are able to produce natural fertilizers in a short time.
Using compost is quite simple. To do this, you need to spread about three centimeters of fertilizer on the territory intended for cultivation. After that, use a shovel to mix the compost with the previously dug soil and a large amount of water with a hose.
Mulch is another popular fertilizer. This process involves saturating the soil with hay, sawdust or grass. Like compost, mulch is organic. All the components that are used in such works, over time, turn into humus that can significantly increase the quality and yield of the soil. In addition, mulching is a surefire way to eradicate a variety of weeds.
Properly selected nutrients probably play the most important role for greater productivity of your garden. Therefore, with the onset of spring, all experienced gardeners begin to saturate the soil with various fertilizers. In combination with all the above works, such activities will help your garden plants to be disease resistant and produce a maximum harvest.
