The month of May means that winter is finally behind us, so the preparations for this year’s garden can commence at last. Urban gardeners cannot wait for this moment to come but many of them get excited to the point that they actually forget to prepare everything needed, thinking that it is too soon to start getting the garden ready for the upcoming season of blossom. This should not be a mistake you make, as there are many things that you must do before flowers can be planted. Once you grab the shovel, you will feel a mental relief, as your mind will benefit significantly because your hands are busy. Gardening is more than a hobby, as it has the power to get your thought together after a long day or week at work.

You need careful planning that will extend into autumn and you need to stock up on seeds, tools, and all the equipment. Luckily, the DIY centers offer various discounts off-season, so starting off early can have its financial benefits. What you sow now, pun intended, you will reap (not literally) from May to August. Once more, you the flora will remind you that hard work always pays off and you will transport this mindset into your professional land family life. If you know that the effort-reward cycle is complete, you will gain a new kind of serenity that will start right there in the garden. Soon, you will associate springtime with mindfulness that will keep you mentally strong throughout the coming year.

Pantry check!

Needless to say, you are going to need to stock up for the coming season. Some tools got damaged last year beyond repair, gloves and buckets have holes in them, and you probably ran out of seeds and bulbs. That is why you need to conduct a short inventory check in the tool shed or the pantry to see what is missing based on the previous years’ experience. Don’t run off buying the stuff you already have, as cost planning is an important segment of running an urban garden.

By creating a list of things you need to acquire, you are actually calming yourself done and receiving a firsthand lesson in organization. If you have issues with being systematic and methodical, shopping in preparation for spring in the garden can help you practice these skill. After all, gardening is not about the perfect flowerbed, as mindfulness is just as important. As the plants grow, so does the self-confidence of the gardener.

Planning is everything

Speaking on planning, it should be the central focus point during the preseason. You can introduce new plants if you weren’t satisfied with seeds from last year but they shouldn’t be planted ad hoc midseason as there should exist a clear plan when they are best to be sown. A flower planting calendar is, therefore, considered a necessity to have. It can serve as a guideline according to which you will introduce new species and perhaps improve the timing for regular cultures. This is especially important if you are planting vegetables so you would know when the right time is to harvest them.

Furthermore, you can use the template you have created for the garden for other things in your life. For instance, your children might be small right now but soon they will grow up and be ready for college, so creating a financial plan is necessary, in liaison with your spouse, of course. It might seem like a funny thing to state but being a gardener will prepare you for this as if you were an accountant. A good planer is a good planer even outside the garden.

Weeding out the soil

The base for bloom is going to be your soil. Start by turning it over with a rake to unearth all the weeds that have survived the harsh winter. Once you start adding compost and fertilizer, the weed population will explode and it will be much harder to get rid of them. Now they are weak so you can pluck them out with your bare hands if they are not large in numbers. If you have a sizable garden, then resort to no-chemical solutions that will help you remove them easily. The soil needs to be 100% free of all weeds before any planting can be done.

Pulling the weeds out is a physically challenging task that even athletes find hard to accomplish without sweating. There are herbicides that you can use to treat the weed with in order to make their extraction easier but in the end, it still comes down to tugging and pulling. Over time, you will learn to assume the right stance and surprisingly enough, you will realize that your calf muscle is enlarged. Gardening is as mental as it is physical, so if you really step things up, pun intended, you will no longer have to pay for those expensive gym memberships.

The right tools

Like we said earlier, each new season is different from the previous one. This goes both for plants and the tools that you are going to need. As the years go by, you will discover new tools that are specialized for the chores inside your garden in particular. For instance, a good-quality multipurpose garden knife can replace several tools, saving you precious storage space in the pantry.

A durable hose cover can help protect the rubber the hose is made of against the elements. Finally, an extendable pruner with a saw blade will prove more than useful for cutting branches that are just centimeters out of reach, obviating the need to use a ladder. You will also use the pruner to fight off any “invading” trees outside your garden’s perimeter that are looming over your precious flowers.

Finally, you can always come up with tools and accessories of your own. As years go by, you will see what chores are lacking proper tools and if you can’t find them in the store, you can always make them from scratch. Most often, these tools will be used for digging, as you need different types of shovels and trowels that are used for making holes for seeds, and some like planter bags can even have multiple purposes (a grow bag, plant pot alternative or garden waste carrier). Actually, if you come up with a truly imaginative design, you can patent it or offer to a garden tools manufacturer for serial production. This goes to show that all that greenery has a positive effect on human creativity.

Cleaning the greenhouse

If you don’t have a greenhouse inside your garden it is high time to erect one. They allow you to control the climate inside the garden but greenhouses require regular maintenance in order to function properly. At the start of the season, be sure to clean all the window panes and the inside of the greenhouse. Disinfecting is also part of their standard procedure and so is checking for any holes near the edges. Various pests, from flies to rats, like to hang out around your garden as they see it as a feast encased in glass. In order for them not to penetrate inside, inspect the entire structure each spring.

You can use these inspections as a perfect excuse to take a walk through the garden. The fact that you have a garden and that spring is near should be used to stay physically fit. In fact, you can bring out a mat and use green in the garden to meditate outside. Any of the downtown yoga studios would kill if they had such natural surroundings to hold their classes in. In fact, if you spruce up the garden well enough, you can rent it to them. This way, you will be able to socialize inside your home over the weekends and you will get a free membership. It’s a win-win situation!

Harvesting rainwater

A neat solution that you can apply this season is collecting rainwater. In many cases, rainwater is of better quality than tap water, so can use it to water the garden. Furthermore, it is “delivered” to you from above free of charge, so this method implies a save of money and protection of the environment.  There are several principles on how to properly collect rainwater but basically, you need a large container inside the garden. This can be an old barrel or a keg, provided they are waterproof on the inside.

Once you have a free and constant source of water, you can use it for watering plants and washing hands. If you are feeling really crafty, you can construct a small fountain and attach it to the barrel full of rainwater. This way, the garden will be filled with the soothing sound of running water that will attract local birds. Once their twitter mixes with the burble of water they will create a melody that is ideal for resting. Stretch out a hammock and lay down on a lazy Sunday afternoon to enjoy the rest of a lifetime. Owning a garden is not all work, work, work, as this is the place where you can unplug and unwind whenever life gets tough.

Mulching the garden

If you are still pondering about what we wrote on hand-weeding the garden, don’t worry too much, as there is one method to prevent weeds from growing in the first place. Mulch is primarily used for decorative purposes but it has a practical side to it. By covering the surface of the entire garden you are both insulating it and protecting it from the elements. Underneath it, weeds will be deprived of sunlight so they will simply dry out over time. On the other hand, a thick layer of mulch, some 75mm deep, will ensure that the soil below is moist enough and that water supplies are effectively managed.

However, your brain will enjoy the aesthetical function of mulch the most. Colorful mulch can be purchased from the local garden center for next to nothing, so the garden will turn into a canvas that you will use mulch to paint. This will be the ideal opportunity to express and develop your artistic side, as the overall appearance of the yard will heavily depend on how you distribute mulch. Once the process is finished, you will immediately fall all over again with your garden and so will any visitors.

Try out composting

We spoke how you can gather rainwater for later use, so you won’t have to pay for poor quality tap water. Well, compost is another aspect to gardening that you won’t have to splash the cash for. Urban gardens are usually tightly interconnected with the household, so you can use bio-waste from your home to create compost for the garden. The smallest bedding for composting can be as small as one square meter, so no matter how small your garden is, there is always room for organic compost.

Finally, composting will allow you to be eco-friendly. You will no longer feel guilty for throwing away food leftover in a word where hunger is a major issue. Apart from recyclables, composting will allow you to recycle organic waste as well, which will do wonders for your mentality. This increase in productivity will make you feel as if you are doing an important service to Mother Earth. If we add to this advantage that you can compost together with your kids, then owning a garden will ensure that you are happy and smiling each spring, instead of experiencing a bout of post-winter depression.

The earlier you start, the readier will your garden be ready for the upcoming season. Roll up your sleeves stock up on tools and seeds, and hit the outdoors to fully prepare for a new season of gardening. Parallel with sprucing up the garden, your mind will experience a change as well. You will start feeling more energetic and you will definitely gain muscles mass from struggling with all those weeds. In one word, gardening will help you become mindful about the world around you and spring is the ideal period to exercise this mindfulness.