I've been out in the vegetable and rose garden today prepping the soil getting ready to
turn it over, fertilize and have it ready for the cool weather plants that I'll be putting in this week.

Plants such as broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, lettuce - all the cool weather plants - can go in now here in Illinois, but our warm weather ones are still a few weeks away. Our last freeze date here technically is May 15, so don't rush the tomatoes or you'll just have to plant them again!

It's important to know your USDA plant hardiness zone and know your last frost date before you put in your warm weather vegetables.

Keep your eyes open for garlic mustard as Spring evolves! With a diligent hands-on approach of removing it, you may keep it from invading your gardens. It is INVASIVE and can choke out other plants. Garlic mustard is difficult to eradicate because seeds can lie dormant for years, so don't allow it to go to seed in your garden.

Starting to get busy!

Of late I've been raking up the leaves and mulching them so they're ready for compost and adding them to the gardens. Been working on a new compost bin. Also been doing maintenance for other people and coming across ornamental grasses that have not been cut yet. It's getting right to the end of cutting the ornamental grasses. They should be down 6-8" because they're starting to shoot new growth. So if you haven't done your ornamental grasses yet, now is the time.

This week I'll be going around fertilizing all the evergreens to green them up. They've had plenty of moisture this year because we had a record-breaking snowfall, but we're a little short on chelated iron in the plants around the pond. So I'll be adding an evergreen fertilizer to add the supplements ammonia sulfide and chelated iron and things that keep to them nice and green and promote growth.

I'm also going to get ready to fertilize the shrubs now - the spring blooming ones, lilacs - and I'll probably fertilize the hydrangeas and other things too so they're ready for the summer along with any of the other shrubs that look like they might need a boost. So spring is coming in!

I've also been going out and dividing some of the plants. Now's a good time for division just as they're breaking ground and popping. If you can get out there and divide them they won't go into too much of a shock because of the cool nights and plenty of moisture to help them to promote root growth. I'm glad spring is here and I hope you're looking forward to a productive spring as you add plants, divide, multiply, or re-create your gardens with a design that's more suitable for you're area. Enjoy your gardening!