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THE WEIRS TIMES, Thursday, April 8, 2010
SPRING CLEANING YOUR GARDEN
“Spirit of Spring, thy coverlet of snow Hath fallen from thee, with its fringe of frost, And where the river late did overflow Sway fragile white anemones, wind-tost, And in the woods stand snowdrops, half asleep, With drooping heads—sweet dreamers so long lost”.
Now that the snow has melted
from “The Waking of Spring” by Olive Custance (b. 1874)
After checking and cleaning
and the temperatures begin to warm, it’s time to start to think about spring cleaning your gar- den. Check your inventory of garden tools and supplies. Clean your tools thoroughly and scrub off any rust that might have accumulated. You can put a light coat of mineral oil on the tools once they are clean, this will help to prevent rust build- up. Make sure the blades are all sharp and in good condition on your shears, lawn mower, weed whackers and hedge trimmers. If they need replacement or sharpening, you should be able to accomplish that at a home improvement center or garden center in the area. Lastly, make sure to check expiration dates on your garden sprays and chemicals and throw away those that are no longer useable.
your garden tools and supplies, you’ll want to begin the obvious clean-up of fallen branches and debris from the winter months. You’ll then want to remove and compost any leftover annual plants from the winter. Peren- nials will need to be tended to as well. As soon as you start to see new growth on the plants, you can remove any dead leaves and stalks and prune the perennials down to the ground exposing the new leaves. Raking is an important task
that will help to prevent leaf dis- eases in your garden. Old leaves and mulch from last year’s gar- den can carry mildew and spores that can infect this year’s plants and flowers. By removing old leaves and mulch from your gar- den, you will help ensure that
See GARDEN on 16
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