Spring Prep at the Table

You guys! March has arrived. Our temperatures feel that spring is just around the corner. Daffodils are coming up. And the start of spring actually happens in a couple of weeks. Who else is excited with me??

How do you begin to usher spring into your lives?

Here? Spring preparation has begun.

• My husband has begun the planting of tomatoes inside in anticipation of planting outside after frost warnings. If you follow along, you will know that our “snack aisle” is a raised bed filled with tomatoes along my backyard sidewalk. This is one of the ways we save them.
• Limelight hydrangeas were pruned with the last of their blooms in February. Make sure you follow guidelines for the type of hydrangeas you have before trimming. My blue hydrangeas are just waiting to sprout with no trimming done in the spring.
• Although I’d love to clean out garden beds, we all know that the insulation of leaves may still be needed over the next few weeks to protect cannas, hostas, and herbs…so I’ll wait a while for that.
• As soon as the weather gets a little warmer, we will clean and seal sidewalks.
• The blower has come out to clean off porches and decks.
• My lawnmower will make its appearance to move leaves from the lawn to the edges of the creek and wooded areas around our home.
• And…there are sticks and limbs scattered across the lawn that will need to be moved before I mow.
• We have young bucks in our yard that during the fall months rub antlers against the small trees and cause damage. We fenced our newly planted dogwood trees to protect them last fall, and those fences will be removed now that there’s no longer threat of damage to them.
• Spring means emptying pots that held annuals removing their contents and replacing with new fresh dirt.They are awaiting the planting of new ferns, pansies, and spring flowers after freeze warnings end.
• A garden planner means I’ll trying to not impulse buy random plants, herbs and flowers! My goal is to create a great garden plan…but, great sales and gifted plants sometimes mean spontaneous happens. Are you like that, too?
• More spring gardening tips here.

Signs of spring are in full swing here.

This week I saw the most gorgeous ferns in front of Kroger. Unless you are prepared to bring them indoors, don’t buy those yet!

Oh, my! How tempting it was not to bring them home! Kroger is always my go to place to purchase the most beautiful ferns and the lower price tag makes that even more enticing.

There were beautiful pots of pansies, roses bushes, ranunculus and more all across Lowe’s garden center today. I’m holding out a bit longer til warmer temperatures linger longer. Since the garden center guy said they bring all of them inside at night right now…that sealed the waiting for me.

My spring planning also means I have to think about protecting plants from sweet animals that make their way through my lawn. We will be stocking our favorite deer repellent and making sure the sprayer used is in great condition. Those sweet deer will be nibbling the tulips, hydrangeas and hostas as their tender leaves appear unless I use a repellent. If you need more help with deterring deer, my friend always has the best ideas.

Deer, raccoons, groundhogs are all hungry when plants arrive. I have to keep that in mind when I am in the processing of buying supplies and plants to deter them. Wish us luck! This week we had a new little red fox who arrived. Wish us luck!

Spring means preparing for birds.

Feeders have been filled all winter making sure that birds have something to eat, especially when snow was covering the ground.

I ran across this gorgeous birdhouse at a discount store today. Oh, my!! Preparing for the birds begins. Now, to make a decision for how and where to place it in the garden. Anyone want to offer which bird will make this home? If you’d love to add one to your garden, here you go.

The calendar forecasts the arrival of hummingbirds in our area in a month. I can’t wait. I’ll have to stock up on sugar, clean the hummingbird feeders and make sure that I am ready with ingredients to make nectar when they arrive. If you want to read more about these guys, click here.

Here are some great hummingbird feeders. Just click on the photo!

Here’s more spring that I couldn’t resist sharing with you…

• Simple ways to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.
• Sweet red bud branches DIY.
• What’s dating your kitchen.
• 7 Gardening Tasks you can start now.

If you missed more spring inspiration last week from the blog, you can read it here.

I hope that you are looking forward to spring as much as I am! Anticipation has begun for sure.

Happy countdown to spring, friends,

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