Spring Gardening 101: How to Prepare Your Garden for Spring in B.C.

 The cold winter season is behind us. With spring comes longer days and warmer weather. Already, some signs of the new season are in bloom everywhere. Spring is a time of renewal, rebirth; a time for new beginnings. What better way to welcome spring than by preparing the garden for its best blooms and vegetables yet.

During spring, dormant plants begin to grow again and new seedlings sprout out of the ground. Whether you’re a novice gardener or a seasoned green thumb, BC Living went to Patricia Fleming, executive director of Earthwise Society, to share her top tips on cultivating your most inspiring gardens yet.

“Compost or other organic matter is absolutely the best for your gardens,” says Fleming. “It improves everything from texture to taste and feeds your soil and the eco-system. I suggest you top your soil each year with 2/3 inches [of] compost.”

When is the best time to plant in B.C.’s climate?

Broadly speaking, it’s best to wait until nighttime temperatures don’t dip below 6 Celsius—or sometime after the Victoria Day long weekend—to be safe. However, Fleming says hardy vegetables like spinach, radishes and lettuce can be planted sooner. Trees, shrubs, perennials and your favourite vegetables and fruits do best in mid-May.

How do you prepare the spring garden soil to yield the best crops?

Whether you are growing flowers, herbs or vegetables, a healthy soil is an absolute must. First, check what type of soil you have. Is it sand, clay or lime? Then, add nutrients in the form of organic matter, which is material that was originally produced by living organisms (like bugs, plants and animals), and has gone through some form of decomposition. (Compost is what most people think of when it comes to organic matter.) Plants need three main and essential nutrients to function: nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. For raised beds, a great soil mix is 1/3 topsoil, 1/3 peat and 1/3 compost. Also (hot tip), eggshells and banana peels will not provide any beneficial nutrients to your plants.

Is mulch a good idea?

One of the easiest ways to make a yard stand out is to add a fresh layer of mulch around the garden beds. Fleming prefers using organic mulch or compost as a top dressing (i.e. coffee grinds), for perennials. Mulch can also reduce weed growth, enrich the soil, keep the soil temperature cool and reduce evaporation. Most gardens benefit from mulch because of its moisture retention capabilities and the shelter it provides to roots.

When is the ideal time of day to water and how often?

You want whatever water you put into the ground to stay there and not evaporate. Therefore, it is usually recommended to water either first thing in the morning or later in the evening after the day’s heat has passed. That said, in the summer months, it’s best to water both in the morning and evening. And if you do water during the day, it won’t burn or damage your leaves, it just won’t be as effective as watering outside of the hottest times because the water will mostly evaporate.

How much sun do most plants and vegetables require?

Sunlight is critical for most plants in a vegetable garden. And for many plants in the garden generally, the more hours of sunlight, the better. That said, it is entirely plant-dependent. The best source to figure out exactly how much sun a plant will need is the seed packs or plant tags. A good rule of thumb is knowing that many flowering plants need some degree of full sun (typically 6-8 hours of direct sunlight per day). Anything part sun or part shade needs about 4-6 hours—the defining factor would be when. For part sun, you want those sunshine hours to include mostly afternoon sun. For part shade, you want those sunshine hours to be mostly before midday. And full shade plants would want no more than four hours of sun per day.

What are the best pollinators for a garden?

“Across B.C. and throughout North America, bees are disappearing,” says Fleming. “This is a concern for everyone who eats: bees are responsible for one out of every three mouthfuls of our food.”

According to the Government of Canada, pollinators include bees, flies, moths, butterflies, wasps, some beetles and many bird species, especially hummingbirds. The site says that “many pollinators are now under threat due to loss of habitat, non-native plants and pesticides. Without these species, we would lose most of our flowers, fruits, vegetables and other essential plant life.”

You don’t need a lot of space to provide important habitat for our local pollinators. A small flowerpot or garden patch of native wildflowers can make a difference. In B.C., pollinator-friendly plants include lavender, thrift, Cranesbill (better know as geraniums), and Autumn joy, to name a few.

Lastly, we couldn’t talk about plants without mentioning those which are toxic or dangerous to your child or pet. The Canadian Child Care Federation is a great resource for both indoor and outdoor plants.