Gardening by Holidays

/ Bluebird Gardens/
Set up a garden spot where you can sit down and enjoy the fruits of your labor. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

Set up a garden spot where you can sit down and enjoy the fruits of your labor. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

Gardening by 2019 National Holidays

It’s hard enough to keep track of gardening chores for USDA Hardiness zone 6A - we used to be 5B- let alone when it is best to do them. I use national holidays to try to keep me on track so here is my basic gardening calendar for 2019 chores:

New Years Jan. 1:  Check inside plants for hitchhiking bugs. Spray with Neem oil mixed with water. Catch up on reading. Day dream with gardening catalogs.

Martin Luther King Day Jan 17: Make sure inside plants are all getting sunlight needs met. If not, move them around. Review last year’s garden diary; make notes for what to do this year. Water newly-planted mums monthly to keep roots hydrated.

Valentine's Day February 14: Check birdhouses for repairs; clean garden implements; wash flower pots.

President's Day February 20: Prune fruit trees. Plant onion sets, lettuce, spinach, radishes. 

St. Patrick's Day March 17: Plant potatoes, peas, Brussels sprouts and broccoli; start tomato and pepper seedlings inside. Check mums for new growth at the base of plants.

First Day of Spring March 20: Work compost into raised garden beds. Plant more lettuce, spinach, radishes, onions. Prune roses. Enjoy the first sight of blooming flowers like the ones on these Vintage Days of the Week Kitchen Towels.

Easter April 21: Plant tree seedlings and native wildflowers. Update garden diary for bulbs I need to divide and move this fall; mark locations so I can find them later. Pinch an inch off mums weekly to keep them bushy.

Earth Day April 22: Plant last of my spinach, peas and lettuce. Cover the garden with tulle to keep deer out. Plant trees.

Mother's Day May 12: Last frost day so everything can get moved outside. I'll leave seedlings in their containers outside for a few days before planting them. 

Memorial Day May 27: Last day to plant anything from seed which means pumpkins, cucumbers and zucchini go in. Compact fruit trees, bushes and perennials also get planted so they can benefit from June showers. Good time to move Iris, daylilies and peonies after they have stopped blooming.

Mark trees that need to be cut. These are ash trees with emerald ash borer larvae, which will kill the trees in 3-4 years. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

Mark trees that need to be cut. These are ash trees with emerald ash borer larvae, which will kill the trees in 3-4 years. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

Father's Day June 16: Last weekend to plant perennials. Check garden centers for end of season plant sales.

Independence Day July 4: Last day for planting beans, last weekend for pinching back Mums so they bloom bushy this fall. 

Labor Day Sept. 2: Harvest fall crops; check for bugs; add compost, and start getting raised garden beds ready for winter. Place poinsettias in room without evening light.

Columbus Day Oct. 14: Trim deck plants; move them inside house for winter. Trade plants with friends for holiday gifts.

Halloween Oct. 31; First fall hard frost. All plants that are going to

winter over should be settled inside. Halloween weekend is also a good time to add compost.

Veterans Day Nov. 11: Clean and store pots, garden implements; toss out torn gardening gloves; mark envelopes with saved seeds; update garden diary on what worked well this year and what I want to do differently or try next year. If there's been a hard frost, good time to mulch plant beds so soil temperature doesn't fluctuate.

Thanksgiving Nov. 28: Buy spring bulbs on discount. 

Winter, Dec. 21: Look for first gardening catalogs in the mail!

What gardening chores would you add to this basic list?

Charlotte