Preparing your garden and your schedule for spring in Massachusetts

Spring is here, and that means it’s time for everyone’s favorite activity: gardening! From flowers to vegetables, herbs to fruit vines, there’s no shortage of plants to grow in your personal garden. And not only does keeping a garden provide you with beautiful flowers and tasty foods for the season, but it is also a great mental and physical workout! Keeping your hands in the dirt can boost happiness hormones, and gives your arms and legs some excellent exercise.

With a little careful planning, you can easily turn this gardening season into your best one yet, which is why we’re providing our senior living communities in Massachusetts with some quick tips and tricks for preparing for spring and summer gardening season. Read on for more!

Do your research

Did you know that strawberries and parsley should be planted together? The way they grow, they make perfect flowerbed-mates. Other pairings include carrots and tomatoes, calendula and broccoli, and lettuce and chives. There’s even an entire term for these types of plants: companion plants. These plants work well together for a variety of reasons, whether one is a shade lover and another reaches for the sun, or one attracts or repels certain bugs protecting the other from pest infestations. One of the best things you can do for your garden is to brush up on your knowledge of companion plants and watch your garden thrive!

Spring cleaning

Not just for your home, spring cleaning should be happening in your garden shed too! Take stock of what items have expired, like pesticides or plant foods, and make a plan to replace them. Clean or repair any rusted or broken tools. Reorganize your tools, seeds, soils, and materials for easy access.

And most importantly, take care of any safety hazards in your shed. While stacked pots may look like they’re out of the way on the top shelf, if reaching for them and pulling them off of that shelf causes pain or even is just mildly inconvenient, it might not be the best place for them. Broken clay pots, rusted nails, and spills from chemicals or soils should be cleaned up and disposed of.

Planting Calendar

Our lives are so busy that it can be hard to find time to do the things we love. Passion projects can be pushed aside for daily chores, emergencies, and events that pop up. But to run a successful garden, a little planning is imperative. Take an afternoon to map out your spring and summer. Mark the dates you plan to sow your seeds, transplant any seedlings that start out in pots, and harvest your fruits and veggies. Be sure to schedule in regular check-ins with your garden, and mark the dates of new growth stages in the calendar as well. Set reminders for watering, weeding, and pruning in your digital calendars for ease of remembering. And of course mark down a full weekend dedicated to preparing your garden for winter at the end of your harvest season. This prep work can make all the difference in ensuring you stick to your schedule and provide the best care and attention to your garden.

With a little preparation, you can ensure your garden will be absolutely thriving this season!

If you are interested in learning more about our amazing retirement communities in Massachusetts, please give us a call. We’re more than happy to answer your questions during a virtual or in-person tour!