In early spring, I sometimes remove the mulch (or last year’s garden remains), pull the weeds, and put the mulch back. Of course, the same mulch that protects your garden plants also shelters the weeds. I have to admit I don’t know if there are enough predators around here to make a difference, but I do what I can to make it easier for them. My hope is that without the benefit of cover, the voles will be easier prey for their predators. I do have an extensive vole population in my garden, so I try to keep my eye out for vole holes and tunnels, and uncover them, removing the plant debris. Here's one example of the vole mischief I find all over my garden in spring. For the same reason, I tidy up the areas I can see from inside the house, so even on cold, blustery days the view outside looks good. The window of opportunity ( WOO) for this is pretty narrow, because before you know it, they are too far along to pull a rake over them. Using this criteria, the first places I clean up are the locations where I know the earliest spring bulbs are coming up. There are two primary reasons for spring clean-up: aesthetics and rodent control. The fact is, most plants can grow through whatever mulch or dead plant growth that happens to be laying around. Do you remember that hard freeze we had in late May last year?) Clean Up the Pretty Views What does this mean for all the little perennials I’ve pulled leaf mulch off of? Should it go back on? I’m really looking forward to actual gardening this weekend, but Friday is a bummer!Īs I mentioned last year, if you live in a cold climate, you really don’t want to uncover every plant on the first mild day, because, as you’ve discovered, there are sure to be more wintry days before spring is truly here. Oh cold climate wise one, Have you seen the forecast for Friday?! Snow and lows in the high teens. Mud season is capricious spring-like one week, back to winter the next.Ī fellow gardener emailed me earlier this week:
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