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Xanthe Gladstone's Guide to Getting Your Garden Ready for Spring

Xanthe Gladstone's Guide to Getting Your Garden Ready for Spring

Spring is undoubtedly the most important time in a vegetable gardener’s year and it’s also the most challenging because there’s just so much to fit in. Sitting in my freezing cold kitchen in Wales in late January, I am actually craving the time when I can spend hours of satisfaction in my garden in March, but for now, it’s all about preparation and planning for that time. I want to get as ready as I can for that time and also set myself up for my most successful vegetable growing year yet. I’m going to share five top tips with you so that you can get your garden ready for Spring too. It’s harder to get motivated when the weather is cold and dark, but I assure you it’s so satisfying when you do force yourself to get out there. 

 

What is Mulching?

Mulching: Mulching is the process of putting a fresh layer of compost on top of your vegetable garden. So if you have been making your own compost, this is when you’d apply a layer to the soil. There are many reasons why we mulch. The most important reason to me is to suppress weed growth, but it also helps to retain water evaporation in the soil (which is useful in the summer), and also adds to the overall nutrition of the soil which will inevitably help you grow better vegetables. I will mulch in January and then again in late March just before I start planting seedlings out of the greenhouse and into the soil. 


What do you do with old vegetable plants?

Clear out the last of last year’s vegetables: often I will have a few leftover plants from last year still in my beds. I will leave the ones that still have life and can provide vegetables, for example, my cavolo nero is still thriving, but I will take out those that have seen better days. This will allow you to start fresh in Spring and also means that you can fully delve into crop rotation (more on that later). My nasturtium plant only died off in late November but I hadn’t mustered the energy to take them out until now, this is a good example of the general clear up of beds that you can do to prepare for Spring. 



What grow your own vegetable seeds should I buy?

Organise and sort seeds: depending on how long you have been growing for, you might already have a great selection of seeds and not need to buy any. However, if this is your first year of growing, now is the time to decide what vegetables and varieties you’d like to grow and order your seeds. Seed companies are very busy at this time of year, especially the small independent companies that I prefer to shop at, so make sure you’re organised well ahead of time. My favourite ones are: Tamar Seeds, Real Seeds, and Vital Seeds. If you already have a good collection of seeds, now is a good time to organise them and sort them out, making sure they have been well-stored over the winter and are still ok to use. You could also consider saving your own seeds this year. 



What is crop rotation?

Crop rotation: crop rotation is an excellent tool to use for a number of reasons. It is the best way to avoid plant diseases and pests that might’ve built up in your soil last year. It’s also a great way to build up soil health and biodiversity. Unless you are growing perennial plants that will re-grow in the same place year after year (for example, asparagus and rhubarb) then you have a fresh opportunity to grow your vegetables in a different place every year, and I think it’s really important to utilise this opportunity. A fun task is to draw out your vegetable garden and where everything is going to go, then stick it up in your greenhouse or planting room so you can refer back to it when it’s time to plant everything outside. 



Should I make a vegetable planting calendar?

Make a planting calendar: leading on from my last point, I think it’s critical to make a planting calendar. This will really help you along the way. Also, you can add to it as you actually plant things out and make notes such as, “a bit worried about my carrot seedlings as I feel that I planted them out a little too early”, and then you can refer back to these notes later. My calendar contains all the names of the varieties that I’m planting, a little bit about the variety, when I sow the seed, plant them out, and when they can be harvested. I’ll make notes on this throughout the growing seasons. I highly recommend doing something similar and this is the perfect time to do it.  

 

I hope that that’s enough to keep you busy until Spring. I think that being organised is possibly the trick to being a good gardener as you have to account for a lot of time when the vegetables actually have to do their growing, so the more you can set yourself up for this, the better. I really look forward to hearing how your planting goes this year, happy gardening! 

 

You can follow Xanthe on Instagram here: xanthegladstone

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