Spring Garden Tips:
- Plant French and Common Lilacs in full sun (6 hours or more of direct exposure) in well drained soil. Purchase larger established shrubs as young plants may need up to five years to begin blooming. Lilacs pruned in spring will never flower. Wait until immediately after flowers fade.
- Prune shrubs and vines that flower in summer and/or fall. Do not prune spring flowering shrubs such as lilacs, forsythia, viburnums, etc.
- A single yearly application of combination dormant spray will go a long way towards reducing or even eliminating outbreaks of insect pests and diseases. Choose a warm, sunny day before bud break. Avoid blue spruce and red leafed maples including japanese as the spray will diminish their strong colours.
- If you want larger, fuller summer flowering plants such as cannas, begonias and dahlias, pot them up in containers and grow outdoors on warm days. They should be brought indoors at night until danger of frost is over after which they may be planted outdoors in beds or planters.
- For early spring colour plant Helleborus, Bergenia, Pulmonaria, Dwarf Iris, Flowering Almond shrub, Forsythia, Pansies, Brunnera, Lily of the Valley, Epimedium, Euphorbia, Forget Me Nots, Primula, Violets, Magnolia Trees, Quince, Fragrant Viburnums, Rhododendrons
