Easing into spring gardening while awaiting last frost

As the weather turns nicer, I know people will be spending more time working on their lawns and gardens in the weeks ahead. However, the mid-to-late spring frosts can hold a lot of us back. The average last spring frost varies around our region, and while for some it will be in the next few days to a week or so, we’re still three to six weeks out from the average last frost for most.

In the meantime, there’s both preparation and gardening we can do while we wait for that last frost.

A good place to start is cleanup from this past winter and fall. Removing dead leaves, fallen twigs, branches, and other debris allows your lawn to breathe and promotes growth.

Most pruning happens in the winter to early spring, but dead and damaged branches without buds could still benefit from some lastminute pruning.

For those looking to get their hands dirty, this is a good opportunity to prepare the season’s soil.

Garden centres have or will be opening in the next couple of weeks, and in the meantime, you can begin loosening existing soil and adding compost or organic matter for nutrients.

Plus, it’s not too early to plant some hardier varieties of flowers, but especially vegetables. Lettuce, kale, carrots, and broccoli are among several vegetables that can be planted two to four weeks weeks before the last spring frost.

As Halifax Seed’s Emily Tregunno told me last year, frost can make some vegetables like carrots taste sweeter.

Of course, some gardeners start plants indoors for direct sowing or transplanting once the last frost has passed. I know some wait for the last full moon in June before planting, which is a bit later this year on June 21.

At the end of the day, it all comes back to weather. Cover delicate and frostsensitive plants when a risk of frost is in the forecast and watch for other impending weather including precipitation or lack thereof to minimize stress on plants.

Happy gardening.