Chores by month Ideas, Tips & Guides

Spring is coming; you can feel it, even here in Zone 5B where the intermediate witch-hazels were trying to bloom despite single-digit F temperatures that rolled the rhododendron leaves up tight as cigars as January wound down.  Brrrr! But oh, the luxury of it: Fiat lux! (Let there be light!)  Like this:On the last day of December where I live, the day was only 9 hours 16 minutes 18 seconds long; by January 31, it was 9 hours 57 minutes 20 seconds, and February 28 promises me an embarrassment of light: 11 hours 11 minutes 42 seconds. (Calculate your daylength for any day of any year here.)I’m stifling the urge to start ordering plants before I do some planning—reviewing the 2012 garden in my photo library and any notes, trying to match my purchases to what the garden really needs most–not sho

I KNOW: There are a lot of choices, whether to deadhead the spring bulbs, or edge the beds they’re growing in? Divide that overgrown drift of some perennial, or pot up the annuals for a summertime show ahead? Mow or mulch? Scream or cry (which in this crazy spring like I’ve had here, seems the only choice many days, I’ll admit)? Well, maybe start here, and avoid that last panic-induced pairing:VEGETABLE GARDENTUBERS AND SLIPS: Are the white potatoes in the ground? Sweet potatoes can go in this month, too.CONTINUE SOWING CARROTS, beets, radishes, salad greens, dill. With salad greens, select heat-resistant varieties now for best results as they’ll bump into warmer weather. I’m sowing kale and chard, too.CUCUMBERS and

TYPICALLY THE SEPTEMBER CHORES come on the heels of the hottest, driest part of my garden year here—and this year has been generally dry, not just lately. If that’s your situation, too, it will be extra-important to be sure to water your trees and shrubs right through when the ground freezes. Weeding is the other big September focus (can you even ID your weeds?).YES, THE FALL IS COMING, the fall is coming. But there is nothing to worry about, Chicken Little, if the garden’s been planned for all seasons…well, unless you slack off now and let those foxy weeds go to seed and gobble up the place. No, no definitive “end” to the season lies ahead–remember my 365-day garden philosophy?–and some of us even feel happy about the coming of more contemplative times where less-obvious garden stars can shine.PEAK PLANTING AND DIVIDING time is upon us; make that include some emphasis on the addition of fall and w

IALWAYS CALL MARCH IS IF-AND-WHEN MONTH: I’ll do things on this list if and when the snow melts, the ground defrosts, and the muck it leaves behind starts to drain off and dry. If and when. This year: no frost in the ground, but finally some snow to close out February and start March, meaning a slight delay on some of these tasks you can read in print, or listen to in podcast—your choice!):

In last month’s chores we stifled urges to do things too soon, and March up North where I garden can ask self-control of us, too. It’s an if-and-when kind of month, as in: I’ll do things on this list if and when the snow melts, the ground defrosts, and the muck it leaves behind starts to drain off and dry. If and when. Not before!Biggest caveat emptor: Be sensible and don’t muck around in too-wet soil or walk unnecessarily on sodden lawns. Love your soil, and protect it.first cleanup and prep tasksKEEP THE PHRASE “as soon as the ground can be worked” in mind, and when it can, focus your first efforts on spots where must-be-planted-early things will go. Examples:  plants that are sold “bare-root,” such as asparagus crowns, or raspberries, strawberries or rhubarb, for instance, and even roses from some suppliers. Onion and shallot seedlings or sets, and seed potatoes tend to show up

The spring—which officially becomes summer June 21 at 6:51 AM Eastern Daylight Time in 2014–has been cool here, but also drier than I’d like. I’m already watering—a chore in itself because I have no system, but must drag hoses and sprinklers around all day from space to space. Despite lower-than-normal rain, though, the lawn is growing madly, requiring twice-weekly attention. Oh, dear—but onward I mow, and go.weeding and wateringMAKE A PASS, with hand or hoe, through each garden bed each week, since weeds are not just unsightly but steal moisture, nutrients and light from desired plants. Apply mulch to all beds to help in the plight. First: Learn to identify your opponents. Here’s help with weed ID. I am about to do battle with this prolific one—called clearweed. Look familiar? I have a whole archive of weed

WHAT MONTH IS THIS, I keep wondering? It snowed in October, it was September-like in November, half the seed catalogs have already arrived, and this might be the latest ever that I’ve had the frogpond plumbing still bubbling away. The long-range forecast on NOAA rates my area as “EC”—meaning equal chances of above- or below-average weather—but I think at this point, it’s time to do the last of the chores or maybe get caught short. One of the year’s easiest to-do lists:

To get ready for visitors, for instance, I need to focus most of all on weeding, edging, mulching (and now mowing, suddenly)—but if I have time I want to make best use of moist conditions to do some dividing of perennials, too. I’d love to turn the compost heap, but that takes days, and extra-cold and windy weather is limiting good outdoor workdays, so maybe that less time-sensitive task will have to wait. You get the idea. Again: priorities.Feeling like what you need most is help with reworking design issues? Landscape architect Thomas Rainer recently offered me some valuable tips on reducing lawn areas and massing plants for visual impact, and designer and nursery owner Katherine Tracey told us how to critique our own yards. If you’re feeling stuck, I suggest both those articles as a start; I found their advice reassuring, and it’s helping me focus.vegetable garden

First, about that astronomical provocateur, the sun: On the last day of December where I live, the day was only 9 hours 6 minutes 8 seconds long; by February 1, it was 9 hours 59 minutes 7 seconds, and February 28 promises me an embarrassment of light: 11 hours 11 minutes 1 second. (Calculate your daylength for any day of any year here.)Rushing around right now can be harmful, including to the soil. Keep feet on mulch, stone or gravel paths—off the lawns and out of beds—if thaws prove warm enough to soften the ground. Mucking around in mud is a no-no, and honestly, I don’t even walk on frozen lawn grass unless I must.In the January chores, I reminded us to start by looking backward, remember? It’s impossible to make a good garden plan for the year to come wi

I know, it seems daunting. Years ago, I wrote an essay, confessing that July always starts out as Throw In the Trowel Month for me, as in: “I give up!” If you’re feeling stuck, like the garden just isn’t “working,” it might help to read it.Despite my stuck-ness, then summer usually shapes up, and the tall annuals and perennials, ornamental grasses, and those heat-loving vegetables we’ve waited all year to taste again, have their day. I’m always glad I summoned the energy to push on through.weeding and wateringMAKE A PASS through each garden bed each week, sinc

“What have I forgotten?” is the theme of December, especially early on, while there is still time to react and make things ready. Besides the hoses to check, are any non-weatherproof pots still sitting, shivering, out in the open? Are the poles for the bird feeders anchored well into the ground (which will freeze here before long)? And what about those flexible fiberglass poles or other devices meant to indicate where the driveway ends and lawn begins—key markers for a successful, safe snow-plowing season?If you skipped it because your weather has been warmish so far, don’t delay any longer: The water garden needs immediate attention and winterizing, to avoid burst plumbing; here’s how.As I buzz about one last time, I’ve still got an eye out to prevention–of pests, weeds, and general chaos in 2014. More on that below.Windy weather can make a mess, too, so out come the saw and loppers again, and off came torn or hanging branches that probably were weakened but not broken all the way through. And will the leaves ever stop showing up, as if from nowhere? To the heap

Here in Zone 5B, where frost can come in late September or early October, you’d think I’d be feeling more fatalistic—that the season’s “end” was in sight.Instead I have gradually loaded my garden with things that flower or fruit or form great seedpods late, or take on fall foliage colors, or with good offseason structure or bark.  On the other end of the calendar, I’ve worked hard to layer in extra-early performers. In my region that means things that start up in March, as snow melts–such as minor bulbs or early perennials like hellebores. A 365-day garden, remember?Topic by topic, now, the rest of the September garden chores:weed and pest control and preventionWEED WAR! Now is the time to minimize weed woes for next year. Some weeds are actually easier to thwart in late summer and fall, like these.

Tender spring weather often turns to a fiercer summer pitch long before the official moment marked on the calendar (it’s June 21 at 1:04 AM Eastern Daylight Time in 2013). Here’s how I’m tackling the tuneups, which for me, after the crazy recent hail, means more wheelbarrows of debris than a “normal” first week of June.No surprise that weeding figures heavily into the chores picture, too, as a whole new crop of things sprout in the oncoming heat. Watering is the other major must in most spots. So…MAKE A PASS through each garden bed each week, since weeds are not just unsightly but steal moisture, nutrients and light from desired plants. Apply mulch to all beds to help in the plight. First: Learn to identify your opponents. Here’s help with weed ID. I am about to do battle with this pr

Some stats on that astronomical provocateur, the sun: On the last day of December where I live, the day was only 9 hours 5 minutes 57 seconds long; by February 1, it was 9:58:33, and February 28 promises me an embarrassment of light: 11:10:19. (Calculate your daylength for any day of any year here.)Rushing around right now can be harmful, including to the soil. Keep feet on mulch, stone or gravel paths—off the lawns and out of beds—if thaws prove warm enough to soften the ground. Mucking around in mud is a no-no, and honestly, I don’t even walk on frozen lawn grass unless I must.My top tip: Don’t! (Don’t rush, I mean.) A short, stout, sturdy 6-week-old tomato transplant (or anything else) is better th

Here in Zone 5B, where frost can come as early as late September, you’d think I’d be feeling more as if the season’s “end” was in sight. But I have worked hard (and keep on doing so) to load the landscape with elements of a 365-day garden, remember?—one that colors up extra-early, keeps showing off till hard frosts say “slow down,” and even has strong structure to carry me visually through winter.Take inventory now—walk around, make notes—and plan in detail to extend and enrich your garden’s season. Reviewing some of my recent tip-filled interviews with landscape designers like these may help.weed and pest control and preventionWEED WAR! Now is the time limit next year’s weeds. Some species are actually easier to thwart in late summer and fall, like these (including knot

In September’s chores I suggested a survey of the garden—noting what worked and didn’t, and making a plan for possible changes. While I tease the garden apart, I’m making my next-year garden resolutions—remember my 2013 resolution list, made around this time? So helpful.Are you ready for “feeder season”? Put out the welcome mat for the birds, like this.Despite those nippy nights, September came and went again this year without a frost, but I’m unlikely to escape another month. (In 2011 it snowed 18 inches one October night, so I’m on alert!) Wherever you are, it’s probably tick, tick, tick, so first things first:overwintering tender plantsI GOT SOME GREAT ADVICE for stashing tropicals from Dennis Sc

FIRST, A RECAP: In April, I offered 10 steps to get the season’s cleanup started, so if you’re feeling a little behind, refer to the April garden calendar for a fast review.mulch, and living mulchORDER MULCH in bulk this year from a local source that ages it properly first; forget the bagged stuff for use on beds. My mulch mantra. To reduce work and weeds in my biggest shrub borders, I use a lot of “living mulch,” a.k.a. groundcovers, but not the usual boring ones like ivy. My 10 top groundcover choices, plus a 101 on underplanting.tick-disease preventionIT’S TI

In the Northeast, where I garden, mid-August through mid-September is prime lawn-repair time, for instance. Many favorite spring bulbs go into the ground in autumn, too—meaning I’d better get my orders in. I’m eyeing big, old clumps of certain perennials and thinking about where divisions from them might go next month.Now as for those untidy bits: August chores are like spot cleaning—a headstart on fall cleanup, one blemish at a time. I can’t fix everything, turning brown leaves green again, or sewing up holes. I can (and must) try to trick the eye with targeted trimming, deadheading, mulching and edging—because visitors will be arriving soon, for Garden Conservancy Open Days on August 16. (Details, if you can join us.) It’s

It’s the moment when the long-reach pruner is your best friend (goodbye crispy lilac trusses), and when taking the long view is the only way home. The long view is summed up in the June garden chores that follow.First, a note: Spring won’t officially give way to summer in 2023 until Wednesday, June 21, at 10:57 AM Eastern Daylight Time. Of course it may look long gone by now at your place already if you’ve had more heat, or bouts of dry and warm versus dramatically cool and wet by comparison. (Here we’ve been very dry with so

Raise the mower deck; man the sprinklers; get out the vegetable seeds for succession sowings. Pull weeds, and handpick pests. Diligence on all fronts will be rewarded, but I know it’s daunting—and that the view out the window right now can be paralyzing–though I do love the avian ruckus in all my twig dogwoods right now, whose fruit is attracting birds galore.Often, as July begins, I want to throw in the trowel; mow the whole place down or turn it under (think: bulldozer).Years ago, I wrote an essay, confessing that July always starts out as Throw In the Trowel Month for me, as in: “I give up!” If you’re feeling stuck, like the garden just isn’t “working,” it might he

Except in frost-free zones, make two to-do March task lists: one labeled, “If frozen…” and the other, “If thawed…” It’s glacial as the month begins in my Zone 5B garden, but the woodpeckers who have started drumming emphatically and even a few tentative songbirds clearing their throats forecast that it will be spring sometime soon-ish, and besides, certain seeds need starting indoors.The March garden chores really amount to a horticultural improvisation act, juggling between Plan A and Plan B.Do things on this list if and when the snow melts, the ground defrosts, and mud starts to drain off and dry. If and when. Not before! The biggest cavea

EVEN I—SHE OF THE MONTHLY CHORES LISTS—get overwhelmed at the thought of it: fall cleanup. As the month begins, I wait in a sort of suspended animation—for frost, and for leaf drop, the two accelerators that manufacture literal heaps of to-do’s faster than I can keep up.

It’s all just a headstart on fall cleanup, really, one floppy, yellowing or crispy piece of plant at a time. I’m teasing out the uglies (or the besieged, if we’re talking troubled tomatoes or sickly squash), and planning for fall-planting opportunities (including in the vegetable garden) as I go. I’m not giving up, and not just for aesthetic reasons. Yes, I can trick the eye to make a fresher-looking garden with targeted trimming, deadheading, edging, and mulching, but doing so also reduces opportunities for pests and diseases; it’s win-win. Nothing a slug or a fungus likes more than a declining, overgrown mess. Out, out now with not just weeds, but anything that has seen better days, too.IN THE NORTHEAST, where I garden, mid-August through

Except in frost-free zones, there are really two March chores lists: one labeled, “If frozen…” and the other, “If thawed…” Many tasks are only to be started if and when the snow melts, the ground defrosts, and mud starts to drain off and dry. If and when. Don’t walk or work in soggy soil, or tread on sodden or frozen lawns unnecessarily. Love your soil, and protect it.Plus: delaying cleanup a little bit is better for beneficial insects and spiders who are overwintering. More on that below.And there is also more, even farther down the page, on when to start seeds. Some of that process isn’t reliant on outdoor conditions, thankfully. My Seed Starting Calculator Tool tells you when to start what for your zone, for flowers, herbs and vegetables.W E HAD a bit of winter intermittently this time around, with one

I know, you may still be wondering “is it spring yet?” as I am, if the weather hasn’t settled. For a read on that based on data, not anecdotes, the USA National Phenology Network’s maps are worth a visit. They call the process of tracking the progress of spring “Springcasting,” and here is how it works.As the weather allows, shall we proceed, then, one chore at a time? I’ve got 10 strategic steps for getting started, plus the longer list to get you through the whole month. 10 strategic steps to get the season startedI FEEL FRANTIC EVERY APRIL, but know that being strategic is a smarter attitude in the face of the month’s heroic to-do’s. I try to stick to the 10 ste

Whatever tool you choose and however hard you work, thanks to that prankster the wind there is no perfection possible, though, and maybe that’s a good thing, because leaves left to lie where they fall can be a home to unseen beneficial creatures (more on that below).In go the last bulbs this month (including garlic, if it hasn’t yet); into the cellar go the last tender things. I’m still weeding (true; until the ground freezes and I can no more), mowing (until it stops growing, I’ll persist)—and also saving some seeds for

Often, as July begins–especially if it does so with a heatwave–I want to throw in the trowel; mow the whole place down or turn it under (think: bulldozer).Years ago, I wrote an essay, confessing that July always starts out as Throw In the Trowel Month for me, as in: “I give up!” If you’re feeling stuck, like the garden just isn’t “working,” it might help to read it.Thankfully, though, there is payoff—n

Some stats on that astronomical provocateur, the sun: On the last day of December 2022 where I live, the day was only 9 hours 9 minutes 36 seconds long; by February 1, 2023, it is 10:01:09, and February 28 promises me an embarrassment of light: 11:12:32. (Calculate your daylength for any day of any year here.)Rushing around right now can be harmful, including to the soil. Keep feet on mulch, stone or gravel paths—off the lawns and out of beds—if thaws prove warm enough to soften the ground. Mucking around in mud is a no-no, and honestly, I don’t even walk on frozen lawn grass unless I must.Some years in February I get lucky, and a sunny day or two coincides with firm soil underfoot, and I can get started cutting back the hellebore

Here in the Northeast, I usually re-check myself around Thanksgiving or the first week of the new month, looking for a hose bib not drained for winter; a partial row of potatoes still in the ground; another skimming of the water gardens for leaves that scuttled in since my last pass. Oh, and that last bag of bulbs I seem to have misplaced—till then.my last-minute checklist, one more timeIf I didn’t have a big fence, I’d be upping my deer-control measures right now, too, like this. Are any non-weatherproof pots still sitting, shivering, out in the open? Are any leaves piled up on lawns or paths or the driveway that require one more raking? (Remember: in all areas where

Winters ain’t what they used to be (for better or worse). This last one featured a lot of wind (the new normal) and chaotic up-and-down patterns (also becoming more the thing), not unlike the previous ones in 2021-22 and 2020-21. In 2019, I feel like we froze and thawed more times than I could count, too, and “mud season” seems to be much longer lately. And so on. What will the next one be like?Whatever it delivered, onward I always mulch, along with aggressive weeding—two top chores of the merry-and-not-so month of May…and trying to restore sanity with a lot of edging as well. But more creative-feeling to-do’s are on the

Rain or no, I’m under way on some key September chores, like putting up harvests, turning the compost, and even saving seed. September is also perhaps the best month of all to really look at the garden critically, taking stock of its strengths, weaknesses…and opportunities–like how manygreat late-blooming perennials do I have (and could I add more)?That I am doing, and that’s why I am always eager for some predictable precipitation come September. I’m revamping more large sections of the garden—some of the oldest beds here are long past prime, and I’m trying to rehab one at a time, including removing large swaths of decades-old groundcovers that now just look like thugs. I’d love to make to easier on all the divisions and transplants I’ll be creating in the process, a