realtylinkonline

May 18, 2001
Springtime gardening tips

Spring is finally here, the perfect time to start sprucing up your lawn and garden. If you're considering selling your home this year, here's an added incentive: an attractive garden and a well-tended lawn can go a long way toward enhancing your home's perceived value. Lush flowers - whether in garden beds, pots, or hanging baskets - help create a warm, inviting first impression.

"A well kept garden can have a great impact," confirms a Burnaby Realtor, "It tells prospective buyers that the owners take pride in their home, and suggests that the whole house is well cared for." Colourful flowers and groomed shrubs can greatly enhance an boring exterior, according to a West Side REALTOR®. "If your home isn't architecturally exciting, a nice garden can 'dress it up' and make a stronger first impression."

Time to get started! Here are some simple steps for getting your garden in shape this spring:

Guarantee a good-looking lawn. Four steps will get your lawn in order: aerate, lime, fertilize, and pull weeds. Aerating involves using a machine to pull plugs of grass from the lawn. This reduces soil compaction and improves air exchange, nutrient circulation, and rooting. By helping grass thrive, weeds will be kept to a minimum. Applying lime helps reduce acidity and discourages moss growth. It may be cheaper and easier to hire a lawn service company to handle aeration, liming and fertilizing, than to do it yourself. If your lawn has many bare patches, you probably need to re-seed or patch with sod - consult a lawn professional or a gardening store for advice.

Prune trees and shrubs. Using strong, sharp clippers, remove dead and damaged branches from woody plants. Pruning not only improves appearance, it encourages budding and flowering. Thin and trim summer-blooming shrubs such as hydrangea, azaleas and roses. Hold off pruning your spring-blooming shrubs until after they've flowered.

Prepare your flower beds.  Despite cold temperatures, weeds will have spread throughout the winter months. Start by weeding all your beds, then loosen compacted soil with a gardening fork. Next, 'freshen' the soil before adding new plants by dressing with a layer of compost, new topsoil, or well-rotted manure. If you have flower boxes and pots, you'll want to freshen that soil as well.

Plan your planting. In early spring, you can plant hardy annuals like pansies, primroses, and violas, as well as summer-blooming bulbs such as lilies. Late spring is the time to focus on more delicate summer annuals and perennials. April is a good month for planting trees and shrubs, since they'll benefit from spring rainfall and can get established before summer heat sets in. Ideally, your garden will have a variety of colourful blooms and interesting foliage from spring through fall, so try to select a wide range of plants with different blooming times.

Feed existing plants.  In early spring, fertilize existing perennials and shrubs with balanced fertilizer. Spread mulch or manure around shrubs, and high-acid fertilizer or pine-needle mulch around acid-loving shrubs like azaleas and camellias.

Divide wide-spreading perennials. For a simple and affordable way to enhance your garden, split up spreading perennials such as shasta daisies, mums, and daylillies. Loosen the soil around the plant, lift out the root clump, divide it in half or quarters (gently, using your hands or a small spade), and replant in another area of the garden.

Seek advice.  Key to a successful garden is choosing the right shrubs, trees, and flowers for your soil and light conditions. Consult with the staff at your garden store if you're in doubt about what to plant. Check out the wide selection of books and magazines available. You'll also find that the internet is an excellent resource for gardening tips and advice.