Winter is a good time to be a gardener. The frantic pace of the spring and summer growing season has decreased. Some rest is now possible for both the garden and the gardener. But now is the time to get ready for the spring season. What I like to call the “3 P’s”.
The first “P” is PLANNING. What are your goals for your garden this year? Take some time now and think about your garden. What are it’s good and bad points? Do you want to make it bigger? (or smaller)?, maybe change the shape? What plants do you want to add this year? Do you want a new deck or patio space?
Be sure to set reasonable goals for what you can accomplish this year. Start with your most important project. Once you have it out of the way you can move on.
The second “P” is PREPARATION. Start to gather your resources together for the projects you planned. Blue Mount Nursery is a good source for many of the items you may need. Unlike the box stores we are a year-round garden center. Our most experienced staff members are here working on winter projects. We can be valuable resources to consult with when you stop by.
We have plenty of soil and mulch to add to your garden beds. Stone is available for paths or as mulch. These items can be purchased in bulk or bags and may be picked up or delivered. We have pallets of stone to build patios and/or walls.
Now is still a good time to plant deciduous trees and shrubs. We have plenty of roses, barberries, spireas, even blueberries. We have fruit and shade, trees ready to plant now. You probably won’t get a lot of root growth now so pick up a staking kit to anchor the trees in against the winter wind.
Winter is a prime time to get your garden soil tested to determine what soil amendments you need to add. We have kits available to send off too Virginia Tech for testing.
The final “P” is the most important and one that you’ve been doing since the start. Your PARTICIPATION through all the PLANNING and PREPARATION has been key. Now you can build your patio and plant your new trees and shrubs. Build your new perennial and vegetable beds. It may be a little colder now but there are days when you can work in your garden. When spring does arrive you will be that much ahead. This summer you can look back on what you accomplished over the winter with 2 more “P’s”; PRIDE and PLEASURE.