I love this time of year!  Everyone is thinking about what’s in store this year for their gardens and landscaping.  Unfortunately, not everything growing in the gardens is wanted.  Let’s talk weeds and specifically what to do when your strawberries have gone wild or your unwanted strawberry plants are simply taking over your backyard.

Yesterday, a neighbor asked me if I knew how to get rid of the unwanted wild strawberries that are invading her backyard.  Every year, they have gotten worse and worse and now they are starting to grown in her lawn.  She has had it with them!

I told her that although pulling is the only non-chemical solution that I am sure of, some suggestions using vinegar can be found on this forum.  In addition, there is also a chemical option for controlling them that she could try.  You can spot treat these unwanted plants with a product such as Roundup.  These fatal vegetation killers will destroy the tops, roots and runners of these weeds, but be very careful not to get the chemicals on the surrounding grass or flowers.  It WILL kill those too!

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Here we go!  Spring has sprung and the blooming has already begun in Charleston.  I hate to admit it but I’m just a little behind in being prepared for it.  With a wedding in the family and plenty of out of town company being here over the last few weeks, lots of chores are calling out for my attention.  So today, armed with pen and paper, I sat down to make a list of what needs to be done and made a plan to carry it out.

Here’s my list of 8 spring gardening tips that need to be done around my garden over the next couple of weeks.  I thought it might be helpful to those of you who are just beginning to garden and have not yet established a routine to figure out what needs to be done in preparation of spring gardening.  There are plenty of others, however this is the list of what I need to do and beginners will appreciate the time savings of doing these things now as well.

Organize an area to keep everything as this will help you get everything ready and allow you to have an inventory of what you have and what you will need to invest in this year to make your work easier.  I also keep a wish list going for things that might not be in my budget this year but that I would like to have such as a new gas powered trimmer and a blower.  I’m really sick of the batteries always running down before I am finished trimming and using a  push broom!

1.  Prepare Gardening Tools

• Get the lawnmower tuned up and the blades sharpened.
• Clean and sharpen all tools.
• Apply linseed oil to all wooden handles.
• Replace weak or broken handles or purchase new ones.
• Take an inventory of my tools and make a list of new tools I’d like to buy and old ones I need to replace.

2.   Cut Perennials

Cut perennial foliage to the ground, with a few exceptions.  Do NOT prune salvia, Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia), creeping verbena (verbena Canadensis), or artermesia until they start showing growth on last year’s stems.  Then prune just above the emerging foliage.

Wait until sprigs of green growth appear on ornamental grasses, then cut back to the new growth. Prune butterfly bushes (Buddleia davidil) just as they begin to show new growth or when the last average frost date for your area has passed.  Butterfly lovers wanting a butterfly habitat see this.  If evergreen foliage of perennials such as Lenten rose (Helleborus orientalis) is tattered from winter’s wear, remove blemished foliage to the ground: fresh, new foliage will quickly return.  Trim the evergreen foliage of sedge (Carex sppl), liriope, and evergreen ferns.

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