Spring is the perfect time to tackle essential garden maintenance tasks that set the stage for a beautiful growing season. Recently, we spent a day in our Zone 6A garden addressing several key areas: refreshing bed edges, maintaining perennials, and adding some creative pruning to our specimen trees. Join us as we share our process and tips for getting your garden in top shape after winter's rest.

Refreshing Garden Edges: A Clean Slate for Spring

One question we're frequently asked is how to keep grass from growing into garden beds. The honest answer? You can't completely prevent it—maintenance is simply part of gardening. After winter, our once-crisp bed edges had softened as grass encroached into our planting areas.

We have two specimen trees (a Paper Bark Maple and a Princeton Century Ginkgo) in our backyard, each with square-cut beds underneath—a design inspired by the gardens at Highgrove, King Charles's estate in England. These formal square edges provide an interesting contrast to our otherwise curvy, undulating beds.

Our Edging Process:

1. Select the right tool: We use a Root Slayer edger, whose half-moon shape with teeth and center indent helps maintain straight lines. Other half-moon edgers work well too.
2. Position properly: We place the edger a couple inches outside the existing edge to create a clean new boundary.
3. Cut decisively: Pressing straight down and pulling back slightly creates a clean vertical edge. This vertical cut provides "air pruning" when grass roots reach it, helping slow their advance.
4. Remove sections: Rather than struggle with heavy sod pieces, we break the sections into manageable chunks to transfer to our garden cart.
5. Plan for slope: We create a gentle slope from the planting area down to the clean edge, making for easier mowing and a professional look.

While there are permanent edging solutions available (metal, plastic, brick), we prefer the flexibility of natural edges. They allow us to reshape beds over time and provide a softer, more natural look that complements our garden style.

Protecting Perennials from Wildlife

After losing numerous perennials to rabbits and groundhogs in previous years, we've learned that prevention is essential. This year, we're taking proactive measures by installing protective cages around vulnerable plants before they become wildlife buffets.

Our backlight luminary phlox, which has been completely decimated in past seasons, received the same black chicken wire protection we use for our roses. These simple cages allow the plants to grow through them while preventing animals from reaching the tender growth.

The protection is particularly important for perennials that provide weeks of blooms—making the small effort of installation worthwhile for the reward of uninterrupted flowering.

Addressing Heaving Perennials

Winter's freeze-thaw cycles can push newly planted perennials partially out of the ground—a condition called "heaving." We noticed this happening with several Pink Profusion salvias planted last fall.

When inspecting heaved plants, we assess each one individually:

1. For minor heaving: Simply press the plant back into the soil and add compost around the crown.
2. For moderate heaving: If the root ball is significantly exposed but the plant looks healthy, carefully dig around it, replant at the proper depth, and firm soil around it.
3. For questionable plants: If a heaved plant shows minimal signs of life, we prefer to replace it early rather than waiting to see if it recovers. This maintains the impact of our carefully planned drifts.

When we discovered one questionable salvia, we employed a creative solution rather than leaving a gap in our design. We divided a nearby serendipity allium (a reliable, easy-to-divide perennial) and used a section to fill the space, maintaining the continuous flow of our planting scheme.

Spring Pruning: Hydrangeas, Heuchera, and More

Spring is pruning time for several garden favorites:

Mini Mauvette Hydrangea

These smooth-leaf hydrangeas (arborescens type) bloom on new wood, making them perfect candidates for spring pruning. Though they look a bit stark after cutting back, this rejuvenation pruning:

• Removes dead, congested growth
• Encourages sturdy stems that won't flop under the weight of blooms
• Creates a balanced, muffin-like shape

We performed the "scratch test" on stems that looked questionable, revealing the green living tissue beneath and helping us determine where to cut. Some stems had died back but showed new growth at the base—a reminder to look carefully before removing anything completely.

Cherry Truffle Heuchera

This stunning perennial with rich burgundy foliage provides dramatic contrast against our Korean Icebreaker fir. A quick spring clean-up removes tattered leaves and encourages fresh new growth. The fact that it winters over reliably in our exposed location proves its hardiness in Zone 6A.

Sweet Romance Lavender

Lavender can be challenging in our climate (we receive more annual rainfall than Seattle!), but proper pruning helps ensure success. Rather than waiting for plants to develop woody bases that become difficult to prune properly, we take a preemptive approach:

• Cut back hard in early spring
• Remove all of last year's growth
• Prevent the formation of woody bases that resist renewal

This annual rejuvenation helps keep lavender plants compact, healthy, and more likely to thrive in our somewhat challenging conditions. We've purposely avoided adding drip irrigation to this area, as lavender prefers drier conditions.

Creative Tree Pruning: Architectural Bald Cypress

Inspired by the creative pruning we observed at Chicago Botanic Garden, we decided to give our young bald cypress tree an architectural makeover. This native tree (which can grow quite large in the Adirondacks north of us) provides a perfect canvas for some horticultural creativity while it's still young.

The technique involves:

• Removing alternating "layers" of branches
• Creating distinct horizontal planes
• Opening the canopy for more light to reach plants below
• Developing a more sculptural form that highlights the tree's natural architecture

While we approached this project with some trepidation (and plenty of discussion about which branches to remove!), the results are striking—a more architectural specimen that allows more light to reach our sun-loving hardy hibiscus planted beneath it.

This type of creative pruning isn't necessary for tree health, but it adds unique visual interest and solves practical problems like shade reduction for understory plants. Since bald cypress responds well to pruning and our tree is young, this was the perfect time to establish this distinctive form.

Looking Ahead: Seasonal Garden Plans

This spring, we're planning to underplant our specimen trees with Sweet Romance lavender and salmon pastel gomphrena, continuing our pink and purple color theme for this year's garden. After planting, we'll top-dress with compost rather than bark mulch, as it adds nutrients while providing a clean look that doesn't fade throughout the season.

These spring maintenance tasks—while sometimes tedious—provide the foundation for a successful garden season. Clean edges, healthy perennials, and thoughtfully pruned specimens create the framework that makes summer's abundance possible.

What spring maintenance tasks are you tackling in your garden? Do you have creative pruning projects or wildlife protection strategies you've found successful? We'd love to hear about your spring gardening adventures!

Thanks for growing with us!