On the official first weekend of spring, equinox is here and we are all itching to get our hands in the dirt. I have to drag my sons inside throughout the day, and my 1 year old especially becomes enraged when I tear him away from his pile of soil so that I can get him to take a nap. We feel it in our bones, this pull to be outside in the warmer weather after a long winter indoors. Usually this time of year I already have flats of seedlings started, but this year I am behind because life is just that way sometimes. March is an exercise in patience for gardeners – here the snow is gone, the green shoots of spring bulbs are starting to pop up, and I realize how much work awaits me in the yard. But each year I try to wait just a bit longer to help the struggling native bugs and bees that need all that leaf cover and flopped over perennials as cover from the cold.
Inside home:
Now is a great time to turn my focus indoors and complete some care on my houseplants while I wait for outside temperatures to warm. In the spring I always take the time to gently wipe down the tops and bottoms of leaves with a damp cloth so that the leaves are free to breathe a bit more after all that forced air and dust accumulation that comes with winter heat. Wiping down the houseplant leaves with a damp cloth is a perfect job for my 5 year old, and he often makes it through several plants before becoming too bored. I always love to invite him to help me with tasks, and he will usually take me up on it at least for a bit.
I also check out the bottoms of the plants to see which ones are growing too big for their current containers and begin to work on potting them up. The repotting process is alluring for both boys – what kid doesn’t love a messy job? I dampen the potting soil and set the container on a tablecloth, giving them free reign but also warning each of them that a bath will follow the activity. I show my 5 year old the process and have him take the lead on several of the smaller plants, scooping new soil into the bottom of the pot and helping me “tuck in the roots” with new soil all around. The toddler is still learning how to be ‘gentle’ with the houseplants, so his job in all of this is simply to be near us, watching, absorbing, and making an impressive mess with the soil. Luckily he is just coming out of the stage where everything goes into his mouth, so the majority of the soil ends up in the containers rather than acting as his morning snack.
In addition to the houseplants, my 5 year old loves to help with starting seeds and this is the absolute perfect age for this. He is able to help me fill the seed flats with seed starting mix, poke the hole and drop most seeds in. I label them and we set them into the tray to place onto the heat mat. His absolute favorite job is watering the seedlings – we use a spray bottle so as not to disturb the seeds (or roots in the coming days). Early on I did have to lay down some ground rules about what exactly should be sprayed, but he has quickly become a serious helper with this daily task.
Outdoor home:
While the inside tasks may satisfy my desire to get my hands in the ground for a while, eventually I cannot keep myself away from the outdoor plants any longer. I begin by clearing away the areas where the earliest bulbs are popping up, the crocus, daffodils, tulips and alliums. I also love to take out the dead iris leaves at this point so that the slugs and borers don’t have an early season buffet. Out of all the tasks that I do this month, working on the areas of hardscaping takes up the biggest chunk of my time – I have never gotten around to putting in grass barriers, and instead simply have river rock separating the lawn from the perennial and vegetable beds. So until I make the leap and simply put in the border, every spring I move away the rocks, cut back the grass roots, and then replace the rocks. This sounds like a lot of work, and honestly it really is, but it is also one of my son’s favorite parts of spring since under the rock border there is always a bug party. I have one of those kids who loves bugs, and so this task is one that he always helps me with – by “helps me” I do mean that he follows behind me the entire time waiting for the removal of each rock to see which bugs are revealed. It is a lovely way to have him with me during this work, and at the same time about an hour in I always end up thinking, “if this kid asks me if there are any bugs under this rock one more time I am going to lose my mind” which is just how things go with 5 year olds. Every year I cut out just a bit more grass as I complete this task – there is only a small patch of grass left in the front yard, and eventually I do plan to either do away with it or convert it to a more water-wise native grass, but for right now it is still nice to have an area to lounge on with the boys – you only get warm weather picnics for so long. So again I will pull back the river rock border and edge back the grass as I do every year – the predictability of these gardening tasks is one of my favorite aspects of working outdoors, as the seasonality follows a rhythm which can be hard to find elsewhere in our lives.
During late March and early April I also start marking out areas where I plan to add new trees or shrubs so that I have a plan when bare root plants become available in April. I adore bare root plants, not only for the cheaper price, but also because they seem to adapt so much better than potted plants and are also, in my opinion, much easier to plant. We try our best to buy and plant at least a handful of trees and shrubs each year to add more diversity to our yard, increase the soil’s ability to hold moisture, and provide us with more food (we almost always add at least 1 fruit tree). We seem to have run out of space for much more in the front yard, but the back yard holds promise for at least a couple more seasons of planting. The nursery where we get many of our plants from has this lovely tradition of giving an apple tree to anyone who brings in their new baby during bare root season, and each of our boys has an apple tree that is theirs. Additionally we have plums and a pear tree – sadly our cherries all died mysteriously last year. Berry bushes are scattered throughout the property including honeyberry (my son’s favorite), currant, jostaberry, gooseberry, nanking cherry, tart cherry, chokecherry, and aronia berry. Last year I also planted a hazelnut which I am super excited about. This year we are hoping to put in a couple more pears as pollinators and perhaps a couple more honeyberries for the boys.
Other tasks for late March include throwing in some cool season spinach, mache and peas as long as I can commit to keeping them under cover for a couple weeks. My older son helps with this as I draw out the rows for each variety to be planted, he follows dropping in the seeds. There is always a lot of thinning of plants when my son plants, I do show him how far the seeds should be placed apart but this information is quickly forgotten in the excitement of putting seeds in the ground. He covers the seeds with soil, gives them a pat and then waters them well – this will become one of his morning tasks throughout the spring and summer, and he has his own watering can to do so. Having his own special can was extremely important to him, and while we often try to balance consumerism with frugality, I understand wanting to have your own tools for certain tasks.
My other big task this year is taking grape cuttings – we have talked about putting in a few grape vines for the last few years and finally have the fence that we can trellis them on. During the fall our family went around town tasting the grapes from the vines overhanging sidewalks and we picked out our top 3 favorites. I love to start plants from cuttings because it is so satisfying to grow something yourself, with the added benefit that it saves me quite a bit of money. Many plants can be grown from branch or root cuttings and whenever I find a plant that I want, I always do a quick internet search to determine if it is one that I can start myself. Additionally, if I see perennials around town in neighbor’s yards I have been known to ask if I can dig up a small section for myself or will offer to divide the plant for them in the spring or fall if I can take part of the division. It takes a bit of my time coordinating this, but I have accumulated a lot of beautiful plants for very cheap simply by cultivating relationships with our neighbors. I have found that gardeners, more than most people, want to share – both information and plants – and many times I have had plants practically forced upon me after cultivating these relationships.
And so the bustle of the gardening season begins – in spring I do relish the madness and chaos, and it is not usually until the heat of July that I begin to feel like throwing in the hat and letting it all roast in the heat. As we are outside more often, I try to include the boys in the tasks I am doing whenever possible – it can certainly be a test of patience to garden with kids in the early years. I try to strike a balance between teaching them how to be respectful to the plants and yard versus simply letting them enjoy the world that surrounds them. I mix in a healthy dose of teaching the toddler to gently pet the plants, while also practicing some serious deep breathing when he accidentally tramples the newly emerged crocus in his excitement. My older son is a whiz at identifying which plants are edible in our yard and which are not, and we have worked hard to teach him the correct way to harvest. In addition to his interest in edible plants, my older son loves picking flowers, and while we continue to discuss the importance of leaving flowers for our bees, I also frequently encourage him to pick bouquets for our table. There are some things that I have just had to let go of – when a plant gets destroyed because a soccer ball breaks all the stems I try to remember that these plants are called perennials for a reason, and that my children feeling welcome among the plants and flowers is more important than my desire for beauty. I try to remember to keep them close and invite them to be with me often – before long they will have their own interests, and being with me among the plants may not be one of them. I attempt to keep the moments close to my heart as I am out in the landscape that I have planted with the two little boys who I love more than the world itself, and remember that every moment of it is precious. And also, my darling boys, can you please get off my daffodils?
