We have had a long winter in Massachusetts this year, but it is finally starting to look like spring! When temperatures hit 50 degrees (Fahrenheit) on Wednesday, my New England kids thought it was summer. We went to Emma’s school and they spent two hours running delightedly around the playground!
Right now, our yard still looks a lot like this:
But the snow is melting, and I’m starting to plan out my spring gardening and landscaping projects. We are lucky to have an absolutely stunning yard, and the kids are old enough this year to play nearby while I get some yard and garden projects done – they may even be able to help with some of them! I’m feeling pretty ambitious, so we’ll see what I get done. I’m thrilled to be getting some help from The Home Depot Spring DIY program, and I’m planning to try out a few of the projects featured on the Garden Club on The Home Depot website.
I have been a member of The Home Depot’s Garden Club since 2009 – nearly as long as I’ve been running this blog! The Home Depot Garden Club features region-specific lawn and garden ideas, expert advice, how-to videos, and monthly to-do lists. You’ll also get $5 off a $50 garden-related purchase when you sign up, and further savings opportunities throughout the year!
Here are a few yard and garden projects I’m hoping to tackle this spring:
- Make our front patio look nicer. It’s concrete, with chipping red paint. The back patio is concrete, too, but it doesn’t have the chipping paint! Maybe we’ll try Envirotile?
- Trim our front hedges, and do something (pull out?) the dwarf pine trees that always look terrible because water dripping off our roof kills the branches on one side of them.
- Work out a better vertical growth system for our raised garden than the random bamboo stakes I used last year.
- Figure out if there is a way to chipmunk-proof our strawberries and blueberries.
- See if I can prevent the blossom stem rot (at least, I think that’s what it is) that made my tomatoes turn black last year.
What projects are you hoping to tackle this spring?
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This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of The Home Depot.
MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.
Wow! That’s a long winter! Your projects sound great.
I would definitely recommend All New Square Foot Gardening. I checked it out of the library, and Mel Bartholomew really makes it seem so doable. (He includes solutions for chipmunk-proofing and vertical growing.) I’m planning to implement his ideas as soon as I can get some raised beds installed – hopefully this month.
Thanks for the recommendation! I’ll have to get a copy.
I love that it is starting to feel like spring! Last year I got rid of 90 percent of the bitter sweet that was taking over our yard so this year I would like to get the rest. I had a tree come down this winter and theirs another really ominous pine I want to take down. My kids want and apple tree. I have to look into that : )
You have a busy spring planned! An apple tree sounds lovely!
we’ve got tons of projects too! hoping to create a pretty and inviting backyard area so we can have some little friends over! sounds like you’ve got your hands full!
I was so excited to see that you are part of this campaign too! Can’t wait to see what you do!
I’m getting into the planning stages too! I cannot wait for the winter to be officially over! I say this as a light flurry of snow falls outside! Seriously. Thanks for the inspiration.
MORE snow? It has been a long winter! No new snow here, but we still have some in the back of our yard…
Yep, our yard has looked like that up until yesterday… and we still have small piles of snow. I can’t wait until I can start planting my garden and working outside!
I am really looking forward to it. We still have snow here, but it is (slowly) melting!
I’m hoping to get out to the community garden today and plant some seeds for chard and arugula!
That sounds great! I need to get some seeds started indoors – I think if I start outdoors right now they might freeze. Or maybe I need to find some super hardy plants…
We just got some snow 5 days ago, sounded like some more tomorrow. I have not even thought about garden yet. But usually we decide on two vegetables we want to grow for the year, we then plant them together. I would ask my son water the plants whenever we can remember, and of course he gets to pick the vegi when they are ready. We plant them in containers on patio. If we leave them in the yard, squirrels usually get them before us :-)
We have problems with squirrels, also, although for us they usually go for the berries and leave the veggies alone. So far…
oh goodness. Last year we finally got the flower beds/landscaping taken care of around the house… so I really don’t want to think about it this year! And the snow’s still here too… so I haven’t even thought about it. One of these year’s I’m going to plant a real vegetable garden, but we have a backyard redo going to happen in the near future, so it never seems to get done.
I do need to get out and trim up the plants though soon! Once the snow melts mostly! Thanks for the reminder that spring really is here!
Good luck with the backyard redo – sounds like a big project!
At some point we desperately need to trim back the bushes in our front yard, actually we just need to get rid of them, but I just have no ambition for that project.
We have some bushes that need to be gotten rid of as well, but it’s a touch project to tackle!
We have some of our flower and vegetable seedlings started in containers and beds. We get extreme heat in the summer. I try to make sure that we have a harvest by late spring/early summer, so I have already got those going.
Though, I do still need to buy a couple pots to transplant some herbs into to make better use of one of our produce beds. In that bed, I still have yet to plant our watermelon seeds.
And then we still have the general maintenance of trimming stems and and leaf removal. Yes, we lose our leaves in the spring not the fall. LOL!
I need to start some seedlings, soon! We tried watermelon last year, but I don’t think it really gets hot enough for them in Massachusetts. They grew (to a small size) but didn’t taste very good when we had to pick them because it was going to be first frost.
I am planning to do some more gardening this year too. Our big project to tackle in the second half of the year is replacing our concrete with paved stones – something that my husband had in mind for quite some time now!
That sounds like a big project, but one that will make your yard look much nicer. I hope you get it done!
I would like to spruce up the backyard. The grass is so destroyed that we need to re-sod. A dog and kids will do that to a backyard with very little sunlight!
Wow – you really have had a ton of snow this year. We are moving towards winter and I’m ready for the cold although our cold means you wear socks and a sweatshirt in the mornings and evenings – it is nothing like your cold.
I would like to have a container garden this year.
My sister used to plant amazing container gardens when she lived in CA. It’s pretty incredible what you can grow in a few small containers!
Okay, that does it. I’m out the door and handling those sprawling bushes! Yesterday was a beautiful, warm day that got us outside and raking up the leaves that had been under the snow. Today I have red-winged blackbirds, yellow and red finches and doves at my bird feeder. Sorry, computer friends, but I’m headed outside now!
Hooray for time spent outdoors! You can abandon me for the great outdoors any time!