Spring Steps for a Bountiful Home Garden in Fort Collins

Hello and Happy Spring from your Northern Colorado neighbors at Grow Your Own! Spring is upon us and now is the time to begin preparing the garden for success. Have you noticed any fresh green growth in your corner of Fort Collins yet?

Clearing out dead plants left over is always a good starting point for garden success. Removing any old plastic plant tags is a good idea simply to avoid confusion. Removing old plants, as well as cleaning your garden tools helps prevent transferring old plant disease and viruses to the new garden. Insects - both pests and disease vectors - hibernate in dead plant matter and return to vex your garden as the season warms up, so add clearing out dead plants from last year to your spring cleaning list. Beneficial insects are typically hibernating deeper in the soil and aren't at risk by cleaning up the surface of your planting area.

Turning the soil of the garden bed is the next step. Use a garden fork to pry up the soil and “flip it” is all that is required.  A twisting fork is available for those with back problems. This is done to aerate the soil and to assist in future drainage. A motorized tiller is typically overkill in an established garden bed. The destructive nature of tilling harms the beneficial insects and fungus colonies, while turning over the soil preserves these for the most part. Turning over also allows an easy way to add amendments to the soil early in the season by simply adding them before the soil is flipped.

Planting early crops here in Northern Colorado begins around the beginning of April and it is best to have a garden bed prepared in advance. We are more than happy to come assess your space and assist with planning, just reach out to schedule a Garden Chat. 

Planting onions in bulb form starts as the soil thaws (now), though waiting until the end of April is best for onion seeds. Brassicas such as broccoli, kale, pak choy, and cabbage, to name a few, can be transplanted to the garden around the end of April (assuming you started them inside or are purchasing starts from the garden center). They are hardy plants that do well in the cold, early spring. Lettuce and beet seeds can be planted around mid-April and should survive all but the worst weather.

Don’t forget to water your plantings and keep an eye on the forecast – if we get some consistent rain, back off watering a bit so that you don’t run into a pH imbalance in your soil later in the season.  If a frost is expected, take precautions such as covering them with leaves or overturned pots/cups/bowls, but we don’t recommend using a tarp since the weight of a tarp can kill your sprouts and be difficult to assemble.

While you might be anxious to plant everything now that Spring has Sprung, we advise against planting most other vegetables, herbs and flowers until we are safely past the last frost which typically takes place in early to mid-May. If you just can’t help yourself from playing in the dirt this month, now could be a good time to begin your garden starts indoors.

If you find yourself day dreaming about a bountiful garden this year but don’t have the bandwidth to get going, reach out so we can take that task off your plate! You'll be thanking yourself later this yer when you have super fresh, flavor-bursting veggies and herbs at your fingertips. Make your garden produce earlier and let us do the effort and planning to get you there.