Lawn and Garden

Prune fruit trees: A sunny day in early spring is perfect weather for pruning your fruit trees, pears, apples, cherries, etc. as well as ornamental crab apples. Hands work better with pruners when the weather is warm, making cutting more precise.

Plant cold season seeds: A sunny cool day is great for planting vegetables like peas, radishes, spinach, beets, swiss chard and ornamentals such as sweet peas, larkspur, bells-of-Ireland, love-in-a-mist, calendula, cleome, and cosmos. These types of seeds prefer to be sown in ground that is cold to the touch.

Prune roses: Pick a warm day just as the buds are breaking on the roses to prune your hybrid teas, floribunda, grandiflora, miniature and standard roses. Warm days will cause the living buds to become plump and easier to see. Be sure to prune out dead and damaged canes as well as crossing branches and canes that are smaller than the diameter of a pencil.

Fertilize spring bulbs: Just after a rain when the soil is damp is ideal for fertilizing spring flowering bulbs. Apply fertilizer according to the package directions just as the shoots first appear. Avoid getting fertilizer on the plant.

Rake debris off lawn: Select a dry day after a few days of sun to rake your lawn. It is very important that the ground be dry when you do your first raking of the season to clean off the winter debris. If the lawn is still wet you will pull up the delicate roots and you will compact the soil by walking on it.

Mulch perennial beds: Enjoy a sunny day in the garden by adding a good mulch (compost, shredded bark, etc.) to your perennial beds. Sunny days ensure that the ground in the garden will be dry and you will not do damage to the soil working amongst the plants. The mulch will suppress weeds, hold moisture and help moderate soil temperature, all very beneficial for the garden.

Divide late-flowering perennials: Use an overcast day to dig up and divide your late-flowering perennials such as hostas, rudbeckias, daylilies, etc. When the weather is overcast, the roots of the plants will not dry out as quickly as they would on a sunny day, giving you extra time to divide and replant.

Cut back ornamental grasses: All warm season ornamental grasses can be cut back on a sunny day in spring. A dry day without wind is a good time for this chore since it is easier to manage the large stalks and you won't compact the soil by standing on it while you cut the grasses. Cut the dry stalks down to 6 to 8 inches from the ground. This will allow the new growth plenty of room to develop.

Prune late-flowering shrubs: A warm day in spring the perfect time to prune those shrubs that flower late in the season. Take out all damaged and dead wood. Remove all crossing branches and remove one-third of the old wood to the lowest point possible in order to promote new growth and better flowering. Shrubs in this category include Hibiscus (Rose-of Sharon), Potentilla fruiticosa, and Buddleia (Butterfly bush).

Sharpen garden tools: A rainy day comes in handy for the gardener. Take time to sharpen your pruning tools, shovels and edgers to make your garden tasks easier.

Remove spent blooms from flowering bulbs: Pick a dry day to remove the spent blossoms from your tulips and daffodils. It is much easier to snap off the spent flowers when they are dry. Remove only the blossoms, not the leaves. Let leaves die down naturally, as the bulbs need the foliage to make food for next years flowering.

Put a hummingbird feeder in your garden: A cold day in early spring is a good time to place a hummingbird feeder in the garden. The little birds have long journeys back to Canada from their winter holidays in the South, and they will be looking for food sources, particularly on a cold day. Most hummers return just about the time that the Pulmonarias and Bergenias bloom in the garden, so be sure to plant some in your garden.

Fertilize flowerbeds: During a light rain is a good time to fertilize your flowerbeds. The rain will transport the fertilizer directly to the root area of the plants.

Plant container-grown trees, shrubs and perennials: Cool weather is perfect for planting container-grown plants. All plants resent having their roots disturbed and a cool or overcast day allows the plant to adjust without having strong sunshine drying out roots and leaves. Be sure to remove the plants from plastic pots. Plants can be left in fibre pots if you remove the top edges. Put a few slices in the sides of the containers and be sure they are buried under soil. Make sure the plants remain at the same soil level at which they were growing in the pot.

Prune clematis vines: Pick a sunny day to prune your vines. A bright day will make it easier to see the new buds forming and help you determine where to make the cuts. If your clematis flowers early in the season, cut back only the dead or damaged wood. If your clematis flowers late in the season, you cut all of the stems back to a pair of healthy buds about 18 to 28" from the ground. Most clematis tags will have the pruning instructions included.

Fertilize the lawn: Just before a good rain is the time to fertilize the lawn. In general, the best time to fertilize is just before a period of active growth, i.e. early spring. The rain will take the place of watering after fertilizing, as water is necessary to release the nutrients of the fertilizer.