by Brad Mauer

Created on: April 24, 2009

Spring Planting

Depending on the region you live in the earliest that you should plant outdoors is Memorial Day Weekend. If planted before this weekend you risk the chance of frost still happening. If you use a cold frame outdoors then you have the opportunity of starting a couple of weeks earlier.

If planting for spring color you will want to look into your early spring flowers. Most of your spring flowering plants grow in the bulb form. The most popular plants are tulips, hyacinths, and daffodils. There are various forms in each of these groups, not to name the colors. Your fist objective should be to pick a color scheme, and from there find a combination of a mix of these various bulbs. The hyacinth is a very fragrant short plant that has a large bud of small blooms. Your tulips range from a medium height to a tall plant, and the varieties of the bloom range from the unique to the standard Dutch. Daffodils have a few varieties but for the most part they are your basic look everyone knows.

After getting your plants in the ground if you live in the colder regions mulching is a bonus. If you mulch around outdoor plants, and a minor frost hits you should be protected. There are a variety of mulches you can use from the expensive that you buy at the local hardware store to the inexpensive to free. Using lawn clippings, raked up leafs, or pine needles can be used as a free form of mulch, and have an added benefit of when it begins to break down it adds organics to the soil and helps it remain rich.

Using fertilizer is recommended in the later part of the spring. Once the heavy part of spring enters the flowers will be in their main growing faze and can use all of the good nutrients and food they can use. Follow the directions on your manufactures bottle on feeding times and frequencies. Over using fertilizer is much worse than using none at all.

In the late part of the spring your lilacs will begin to bloom. As this begins to happen you can clip a few of the mature ones to bring in for a nice bouquet that will give a pleasant fragrance to the house. Having fresh flowers around the house is one of the great benefits of spring. Enjoy all of the fresh beauty while you can it does not last long.

Creating flower beds for your new plants is a chore that can bring beauty to the yard. If you produce a great area of blooms it will give you a place to go and sit in the evenings when you come home form work. Nothing more peaceful and relaxing than sitting our and enjoying the quiet of nature. Having Flowers in the yard not only attracts the eye of other humans it also brings in wildlife and feathered friends to your yard. Having these creatures are as enjoyable as the flowers that attract them.

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