Prepare your garden for spring: What to do before spring sowing?

Careful preparation for spring pays off. The more thoroughly you look after the garden before the season begins, the better your plants will thrive once the weather outdoors is right for planting. We have prepared a brief guide so that you do not overlook anything during your spring preparations.

Successful cultivation does not begin only when the first seeds are sown – the key to a rich harvest is careful preparation right at the start of the season. Tidy the garden, prepare the soil, plan the sowing and ensure enough nutrients – all of this needs to be done before spring fully arrives. Let us look at how to do it step by step.

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

Preparing the soil in the beds: After a thorough clean-up of the whole garden, it is time to get to the beds. Start by raking away the mulch from the previous season and pulling out weeds so that you expose the bare soil. Decomposed remains of old mulch can be worked into the soil, but it is better to add “fresh” mulch to the compost. Weed remains should either be burned or thrown away. Do not compost pulled weeds, because the seeds could later germinate in the beds or in pots.

Loosening and adjusting soil pH: It is a good idea to loosen exposed soil after winter. Dig over the top layer of the substrate with a sharp spade 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 that the existing substrate is particularly poor or stony, the easiest option is to build a raised bed in the given place. During loosening, you can also lime the soil, which will help neutralise acidity. Soil pH is measured with analogue or digital pH meters.

Spring fertilising: For your plants to get a good start in life, the soil must contain all the necessary nutrients. In spring and during the beginning of summer, plants mainly require nitrogen, which they need for the formation of new leaves and stems. Compost, humus, well-rotted manure, guano or fertilisers with a higher nitrogen content contain plenty of nitrogen. For root formation, plants also need phosphorus in spring, which you can add to the soil in the form of wood ash, bone meal or phosphate fertilisers.

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Preparing the bed and planning the sowing: Before the weather outdoors is suitable for sowing, it is time to think about where and which plants you will plant in the garden. Crop rotation is important for soil health and for preventing pests. Bear in mind that some plants help enrich the soil with nitrogen (legumes), while other nutrient-demanding species deplete the soil (kale, kohlrabi).

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

Pre-growing seedlings: Many types of vegetables, herbs and flowers can be pre-grown at home before the frosts have passed. This gives you a head start, and after planting outdoors your plants will grow and ripen faster than when sown directly into the bed. Tomatoes, peppers or lettuces are most commonly pre-grown. You can pre-grow seedlings by the window in a cold frame or under artificial lighting in a propagator.

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