Seasonal Gardening Maintenance: Keep Your Garden Well-Maintained All Year Round

Tammy Sons, a horticulture expert and CEO at TN Nursery, teaches gardeners at the local master gardening symposium, "It is essential to take seasonal care of the garden to ensure a healthy and productive garden.” “Seasons change your plants’ needs and how much work you have to do to keep your garden looking good.” By gardening according to the seasons, you can grow more, save money, and have an attractive landscape all year round. This is easier to do if you plant native plants in your garden because they’re more adapted to the seasons locally and often require less time.

Spring: Awakening the Garden  

Spring marks the beginning of the growing season, so it’s a great time to prepare and plant. Plants spring from winter slumber as temperatures rise and soil warms. Native perennials such as the black-eyed susan and purple coneflower start growing, ready to liven up your garden.

Tasks for Spring:  

Preparation of Soil: Determine your soil pH and nutrient concentration. : Plant compost or living matter for nutrition and drainage.

Seeds: Plant wildflowers and vegetables native to your area. For pollinators, consider early-flowering species such as Virginia bluebells or columbine.

Cutting Back Weeds & Mulching: Cut back weeds to reduce nutrient competition. Mulch so it stays moist and prevents weed growth in the future.

Pruning: Remove dead or damaged branches from shrubs and trees for healthy growth

The same time of year is a wonderful time to begin cool-season vegetables like lettuce and spinach or Indigenous plants such as wild mint. With a little care, your garden will bloom season after season.

Summer: Sustaining Growth and Beauty  

Summer has longer days and great sunshine, which is ideal for growth. Yet heat and drought are taxing on plants, so they must be kept in good condition. Native species such as butterfly weed and blazing star, which tolerate drought well, are also beautiful at this time of year.

Tasks for Summer:  

Watering: Deeply water your garden in the morning before evaporation starts. Native plants usually don’t need so much water because they’re adaptive.

Insect Control: Look for pests such as aphids or beetles. Deter destructive insects with organic products like neem oil or companion planting.

Deadheading: Pull spent flowers from perennials so they stay in bloom.

Fertilizer: Feed only if necessary to avoid overstimulation of plants during hot conditions. Organic fertilizers are best for maintaining the soil.

Plant in the shade for sensitive plants and keep the soil moist. This summer too is a great time to enjoy your garden, the pretty flowers, the birds that come and go.

Fall: Preparing for Rest - The Dormant Season

Fall is the season when plants transition from growing to preparing for dormancy. Native goldenrods and asters bloom late into the season to attract pollinators until winter. It’s also the season to plant bulbs and perennials for next spring.

Tasks for Fall:  

Harvest: Harvest your last vegetables and herbs before the first frost.

Planting: Plant native trees and shrubs in fall as lower temperatures lessen transplant shock.

Mulching: Apply a layer of mulch deep into the ground to encapsulate roots and slow erosion in winter.

Health of the Soil: Add cover crops such as clover to lock in nitrogen and inhibit weeds.

Leaves: Gather them up as you fall and compost or use them as leaf mulch. Leave a few bits of vegetation in place, too, to provide some warmth to beneficial insects during winter.

Winter: Rest and Preparation  

Winter is the period when the garden rests and the gardeners plot. Other plants do not grow much, but local evergreens such as winterberry holly or eastern red cedar make a nice display and provide wildlife habitat.

Tasks for Winter:  

For Plant Protection, Wrap weak-growing shrubs with burlap or plant row cover to protect plants from frost.

Pruning: Prune perennials and ornamental grasses at the end of the winter before the new growth arrives.

Tool Cleaning: Sharpen and scrub garden tools to prepare for next year.

Plan: Invest this break in local plants, order seeds, and plan your garden for spring.

If you are a wildlife gardener, leave seed heads on coneflowers and sunflowers. They feed birds and other creatures in dry winters.

Why Seasonal Plants of Native Origin?

Native plants naturally tune to the seasons in your backyard. They’re well-suited to local climate, pests, and soil conditions, saving Intensive Care for later.

For example, in spring, wildflowers bloom early because of pollinators coming from hibernation.

Summer: Plants with drought resistance, like little bluestem grass, like hot temperatures.

Autumn: Late bloomers like New England asters extend the season’s beauty and stewardship.

Winter: Evergreens provide habitats for animals and structures for the garden.

You have a self-sufficient garden that changes seasonally by planting native plants.

Seasonal Gardening for Sustainability  

With a little planning and maintenance, your garden will live on all year round while supporting the ecology and making nature and gardening a happy medium. 

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About the Author: Tammy Sons studied Horticulture and is the Founder and CEO of TN Nursery, a family-run business rooted in her deep love for plants and gardening. With decades of experience, Tammy specializes in helping gardeners of all levels create thriving, beautiful landscapes.