Warm days will soon be here again—which means that it's time to prep your garden for the coming months. Follow these steps to ensure that your home oasis is full of greenery and blooms this season.

Clean Up and Clear Out

Once the last of the snow finally melts, it’s time to survey the state of the garden. The cold weather has probably left leaves, broken branches, and debris behind, and it’s difficult and even damaging for new plantings to grow when there’s a layer of detritus lying around.

Trim Your Perennials

If you’ve previously planted perennials—that is, plants that come back year after year—you’ll need to trim them so that they’ll grow back once the weather warms up. You’ll want to make sure that you wait until the possibility of an early spring frost is gone to avoid damaging any emerging greenery.

Plan Ahead

Just because you don’t see any new life yet doesn’t mean that you can’t start planning ahead for your garden. Plants like peppers, geraniums, and begonias actually should be planted in January or February because they need a longer growing season, so you’ll want to plant them in the middle of winter and keep them inside until it’s warmer out. Some summer-blooming flowers like lilies, gladiolus, and ranunculus can be planted in the early spring, so you’ll want to have them on hand once the weather is warm enough to start planting.

Prep Your Tools

Similarly, you’ll want to take stock of your gardening tools and see what’s missing, rusty, or needs repair. You don’t want to get caught with a broken shovel on the first beautiful spring day!

Rejuvenate Your Soil

Over the course of winter, your soil has probably hardened, frozen, and lost a lot of its moisture. You’ll want to restore moisture and nutrients to the soil by breaking it up with a pitchfork and mixing in manure or compost. You may also consider adding a layer of mulch to prevent weeds from growing and to keep in moisture.

Plant Away

Once your garden is in tip-top shape and ready for spring to come, it’s time to dig some holes and plant some flowers, herbs, vegetables, shrubs, or trees. If you like the idea of color blooming throughout the season, consider mixing annuals with perennials so that you’ll have color year-round. It’s also a good idea to plant according to height, so that taller plants don’t block sun and water from nearby shorter ones.

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