Prepare Your Garden for Spring!!

As the spring season approaches, there are several things you should do in the garden ...

• Make sure all the dead foliage of hosta, daylilies, iris, and peonies are cut back and cleared from the garden.
• You should do a light feeding of Plant-tone or Holly-tone in March before you add your mulch.
• Cut the stems and foliage of perennials. Be sure to cut them back to the ground before new spring growth.
• Don't cut back evergreen or semi-evergreen perennials (Iberis, Heuchera, Alchemilla, Alyssum, Arabis, hardy Geraniums, Epimedium, etc.), but you can protect them from the harsh late freezes by lightly covering them with leaves or pine boughs.
• Cut back the ornamental grasses in March.
• Buddleia, Crape Myrtle, and Caryopteris should be trimmed after the danger of frost but while they are still dormant, usually in April. Cut them back until you reach a green stem (or to 12"-18"). After a hard winter in colder climates, you may have to cut them almost to the ground, but they will come back from the base to form a handsome new shrub.
• Spring is a great time to divide your perennials.