Spring garden prep, 5 Garden Tasks to Tackle Before May for a Thriving Spring Season

“These garden tasks are important for your spring garden prep to make sure your plants thrive all season.”

April might still feel chilly in some places (like here in Pittsburgh!), but it’s the perfect time to get your garden in shape before May hits and everything takes off. I’ve been working through my own to-do list, and figured I’d share the five main tasks I always try to knock out before May rolls around. Hopefully this helps you get a jump on your garden too.

1. Clean Up Winter Messes After a long winter, my garden usually looks rough. Fallen leaves, broken twigs, and random stuff the wind blew in—it all needs cleared out. I rake out the beds, pull out anything dead or mushy, and start fresh.

If you compost, this is a good time to add all those leaves and clippings (as long as they’re not diseased). I use a simple compost bin.

2. Prune Back Perennials and Shrubs This is when I prune the plants that made it through winter. Any dead stems on perennials get cut back, and I shape up the shrubs that went a little wild.

Be careful not to trim spring bloomers too early—stuff like lilacs and forsythia already have flower buds, so I wait until they’re done blooming before I touch them.

If you don’t already have a good pair of garden shears.

3. Prep the Soil and Beds I always fluff up the soil a bit, pull early weeds, and mix in compost or bagged garden soil if I have it. If you’ve never tested your soil before, you can grab a simple soil test kit on Amazon to see what your dirt might be missing.

Once the beds are prepped, I usually mulch to keep moisture in and weeds out. I don’t get fancy—whatever mulch is cheapest at the store works fine.

4. Start Some Seeds If you haven’t planted yet, no worries. You’ve still got time to start seeds—especially stuff like lettuce, spinach, or peas if your ground isn’t frozen anymore.

For warm-weather plants like tomatoes or peppers, I start those indoors in front of a sunny window using seed trays and a basic grow light I ordered from Amazon. If you don’t want to deal with starting from scratch, you can always pick up starter plants from a local nursery in May.

5. Plan Where Everything’s Going I learned this the hard way—if I don’t plan where things go, I either forget something or cram too much in one bed. I usually sketch out my layout on paper, figuring out what goes where based on sun, space, and what grew well the year before.

I try to rotate crops if I can, especially tomatoes, so the soil doesn’t get worn out.

If you like writing things down, a simple garden planner journal from Am

A vibrant display of assorted tulips, showcasing a stunning array of colors including yellow, red, purple, and white.

azon helps keep it all organized without having to memorize everything.

Final Thoughts:

Doing these five things now makes the rest of the garden season so much smoother. Even when money’s tight or the weather’s moody, I always feel better once I’ve got a few of these knocked out. Hope this helps you get ready too—and if you’re tackling your own spring prep, drop a comment and let me know what you’re working on!

HAPPY GARDENING!!

A serene garden path winds through vibrant beds of blue, yellow, and pink flowers surrounded by lush greenery.