Prepare Your Garden for Spring: What to Do Before Spring Sowing?

Thorough spring preparation pays off. The more thoroughly you care for the garden before the season begins, the better your plants will do once the weather outside is right for planting. We have prepared a short guide so you don't overlook anything during your spring preparations.

Successful growing doesn't start only when the first seeds are sown – the key to a bountiful harvest is careful preparation at the beginning of the season. Clean the garden, amend the soil, plan sowing and ensure sufficient nutrients – all of this needs to be done before spring is in full swing. Let's look at how to do it step by step.

Thorough cleanup: Before the soil warms up in spring you have time for a proper cleanup. First, clear the garden of fallen leaves and remove all twigs and remnants of dead plants from the beds. If possible, add everything to the compost.

Preparing the soil in beds: After a thorough garden cleanup it's time to work on the beds. Start by raking away mulch from the previous season and pulling weeds to reveal bare soil. Decomposed remains of old mulch can be worked into the soil, but fresh mulch is better added to the compost. Either burn or dispose of weed residues. Do not compost pulled weeds, because seeds could later germinate in beds or pots.

Loosening and adjusting soil pH: Exposed soil is good to loosen after winter. Fork the top layer of substrate to a depth of 10 to 15 centimetres. If the soil in your garden is heavy or clayey, enrich it with compost or humus. If you find the existing substrate particularly infertile or stony, the simplest option is to build a raised bed in that spot. During loosening you can also lime the soil, which helps neutralize acidity. To measure soil pH use analog or digital pH meters.

Spring fertilization: For your plants to get a good start, the soil must contain all necessary nutrients. In spring and early summer plants primarily require nitrogen for producing new leaves and stems. Compost, humus, well-rotted manure, guano or nitrogen-rich fertilizers are high in nitrogen. For root development plants also need phosphorus in spring, which you can add to the soil in the form of wood ash, bone meal or phosphate fertilizers.

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Bed preparation and planning sowing: Before the weather outside is suitable for sowing, it's time to decide where and which plants you will place in the garden. Crop rotation is important for soil health and pest prevention. Bear in mind that some plants help enrich the soil with nitrogen (legumes), while other nutrient-demanding species deplete the soil (cabbage, kohlrabi).

Care of fruit trees and shrubs: Spring is an ideal time to prune fruit trees and shrubs. Remove dry, diseased or crossing branches and give the plants the necessary fertilizer. If needed, you can spray fruit trees against overwintering pests using appropriate sprays.

Seedling propagation: Many types of vegetables, herbs and flowers can be started indoors before the last frosts. This gives you a head start, and after planting outdoors your plants will grow and ripen faster than if sown directly into the bed. Tomatoes, peppers and lettuces are most commonly started this way. Seedlings can be grown on a windowsill in a cold frame or under artificial lighting in a propagator.

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