Spring cleaning in the perennial garden
The Gardener's Corner
By Judith Rogers

With spring-like temperatures finally arriving and the melting remnants of that sooty looking snow gone, we can finally get down to business in the garden.

Resist the urge to jump right in though, as wet garden soil is particularly susceptible to compaction at this time of year and it needs to dry out pretty well before walking on it. Compaction is when the soil particles and tiny air pockets are pressed together affecting the space for oxygen, root growth and intake of nutrients, and ultimately drainage of the soil. Many a gardener has also stepped on emerging bulbs or perennial foliage through their eagerness to get started as soon as the weather becomes mild.

Cut back perennial stalks and seedheads that were left for winter interest, as well as any ornamental grasses. Grasses that grow three feet and under, cut back to five centimetres (two inches) and those that grow beyond three feet, cut back to 10 cm (four inches).

Evergreen perennials require a minimal amount of pruning and tidying. Early spring flowering pinks, candytuft and moss phlox may suffer some brown tips over the winter, but wait to prune them until after they finish blooming. At that time, they can be trimmed back to half their height, which will encourage a dense and bushy form.

Photos by Judith Rogers

Carefully tidy up semievergreens such as bergenia, heuchera, lady's mantle, brunnera and various perennial geraniums by removing their brown and tattered leaves. Shasta daisies, rudbeckia, scabiosa and coreopsis, all have an evergreen rosette of leaves at the base that needs to be left intact except for the removal of any brown leaves.

Woody perennials like butterfly bush, caryopteris, Russian sage and lavender can be trimmed back to about 25 cm (10 inches) after new growth is seen coming from the base.

Herbaceous perennials that include daylilies, peonies, summer phlox and hosta die back to the roots and can have their foliage cut right back and cleaned away. The dead foliage, as long as none of it is diseased, can be added to the compost pile or chop it up and leave to decompose as Mother Nature would, to take care of the detritus.

Most gardeners are too neat and tidy with their garden beds; this cut down material can easily be hidden at the back of the garden and by summer should have broken down to add organic material for the soil. Dispose of diseased leaves and plants in the trash.

Pictures of tulips and early miniature daffodils.

Nip them in the bud - the perennial weeds that have over wintered, as well as new annual ones, should be taken care of before they can get to the point of setting seed and reproducing.

A good spring mulch can be made by mixing equal parts of chopped leaves left over from fall, cocoa fibre and compost or composted manure. Spread this after the soil has warmed up and it will supply food for healthy perennials and annual flowers, help retain moisture in the soil and keep the weeds down. One of the golden rules of gardening is to feed the soil, not the plant.

For the final touch, give the perimeter of gardens a clean trim with a sharp edger or consider laying a border of flat bricks to make mowing around the beds easier.