Gardening: Out of those chairs, everybody…

Because it’s spring! At last, finally, after such a hideous winter, full of snow and ice and melt and ice and more melt and more ice. Never mind the groundhogs, early spring, late spring, whatever — if the calendar says spring, it’s spring!

And so, what should we be doing? First things first.

1. I know that all of you are now computer literate, having taken Mark Lindemann’s course at the Shelter Island Library. So it will be easy for you to go online and request catalogs from the following companies, whether you intend to buy anything or not. Catalogs are must-haves for gardeners because they’re full of information, photographs and suggestions, all of which spark our imagination. For you very few laggards who refuse to edge your way into this current century, here are the phone numbers as well:

Park Seed, parkseed.com, 800-845-3369; Burpee, burpee.com, 800-888-1447; John Scheepers, johnscheepers.com, 860-567-6086; and White Flower Farm, whiteflowerfarm.com, 800-503-9624.

2. Check your tools and supplies. I’m often asked to do more for “newbies,” so a list of must-haves and then a luxury follow: two shovels, one straight-edged, one pointed; two rakes, one strong, metal and short-tined, one bamboo for leaves; shears; a basket for your tools; a hand trowel (more than one is good because then you can go on working when you can’t find the first one until you trip over it); three large tin cans, available at most hardware stores, to contain all-purpose fertilizer, acid-loving plant fertilizer and top soil; garden staples and twist-ems; what I call a lopper, namely very big, strong shears for pruning; and some kind of knee pads. Also a wheelbarrow.

A luxury item, but if you’re serious about gardening it’s close to a necessity, is a potting bench. If you’re really pressed for either space or cash and this item is beyond you, think seriously about making an equivalent. The important thing is that you have all your stuff in one place and you’re faithful about maintaining it. A card table with a waterproof tablecloth under a couple of shelves in the garage will work.

3. Start your spring cleanup now. If you do a little each day when the temperature is up some and the sun is out, it’ll be done before you know it. (Always think stupid, cheerful things like that when contemplating really onerous tasks). Two weekends ago I started the really hateful task of picking up the leaves that had rotted under the snow as well as those that wedge themselves at the very base of large shrubs. This task can only be done on your hands and knees, crawling around, filling the weed pail and then, standing, dumping the full pail into the wheelbarrow. You can’t use a blower, you blow the mulch away.

I think my cat very much enjoyed seeing me on all fours where he usually is because he joined me immediately, sitting down only a foot or so away, watching the leaf procedure intently. I pointed out that he actually could help in this task. He could easily use his teeth to pick them up and just drop them in the bucket. Hearing this, he went then to the nearest bare forsythia bush, rolled on his back, grabbed the lowest branch with his paws and, pummeling it into submission over several minutes of hard fighting, took little bites here and there. I said I didn’t need any branches bitten, I needed leaves picked up. He turned over, stretched out, and apparently miffed with me, unimpressed with his battle prowess (it’s hard to tell sometimes with cats) went to sleep in the sun.

4. In your garden book, write down “Order galanthus this fall.” See photo for why.

Gardening tip of the week:

When is the first fertilization due? Now.