Spring Garden Prep Checklist: 7 Tasks for a Healthy Start

Let’s call them “spring rituals” instead of chores. The payoff is immediate: you see results within weeks, and the first warm days make the work feel like play. Here’s your checklist as the snow melts and soil warms.

1. Tool & Infrastructure Tune-Up
   Repair stepping stones, fix broken edging, replace dead solar lights, sharpen pruners. Do it now before planting season swallows your weekends.
2. Cut Back Perennials & Shrubs
   Remove all dead top growth from perennials, ornamental grasses, and roses. This opens the crown to light and air, reducing disease and encouraging vigorous new shoots.
3. Deep-Clean Containers & Features
   Scrub pots, clean and oil tools, wash birdhouses, flush ponds and fountains. Clear matted leaves off emerging bulbs to prevent rot.
4. Plant Bare-Root Roses, Trees & Shrubs
   Early spring is prime time for bare-root stock—cheaper and easier to establish. Crucial: know the planting spot before you buy; once dormancy breaks, roots must be in soil immediately.
5. Divide Crowded Perennials
   If clumps were congested last year, dig and divide now. Replant divisions promptly; share extras with friends.
6. Hydrate & Feed
   After a dry winter, give everything a deep soak. Begin fertilizing in mid-to-late spring per plant needs.
7. Plant Something Joyful
   Sow peas, spinach, radishes; set out pansies, primroses, and new perennials. The best reward for prep work is getting your hands dirty.

That’s it. Not so hard—and you’re already in the garden.