Spring has finally arrived! We know we’re not the only ones excited to dig into a fresh year of gardening. Make sure you don’t miss anything on your spring landscaping checklist.

Early Spring Checklist

• Before you dig into spring planting, check your bulb beds to make sure things look good for bright, beautiful spring blooms.
• Check the pH of your soil and supplement flowerbeds with fertilizer, lime, or compost to ensure plants stay happy all summer.
• Prune fruit trees before buds appear on the branches. Remember: wait too long and you’ll stress the trees, leading to a low yield.
• Divide and replant perennials, making sure each new plant has at least three stems.
• Plant early spring vegetables like carrots, lettuce, onions, cucumbers, peppers, and tomatoes.
• Clean up the landscape. Remove winter debris, repair damaged beds, and take your lawn mower to be serviced before the first mow of the season.

Mid-Spring Checklist

• Plant fresh flowerbeds full of vibrant colors and eye-catching shapes.
• Put your planters away until fall. Leave the birdbaths out and full of water.
• Transplant seedlings for annuals.
• Take stock of your spring landscape. Write down any notes about how to improve the view next year. Trust us, you’ll forget what you wanted to fix by next spring!
• Apply mulch around flowerbeds to suppress summer weeds and help retain moisture.

Late Spring Checklist

• Deadhead spring-blossoming bulbs.
• Prune spring-blooming shrubs after they’ve spent their blossoms for the year.
• Take a break and plant a fairy garden inside the house.

Do you need fresh spring flowers and shrubs, new tools and garden ornaments, tips on seasonal landscape care, or professional insight on your landscape design? Visit Whispering Springs Nursery for landscaping solutions in Jasper.

Fairy gardens add a dash of whimsy to the landscape. They’re fun, simple to make, and brighten the yard even in the dead of winter. Ready to plant fresh enchantment? Make your own fairy garden with a little help from your friends at Whispering Springs Nursery.

How to Plant a Fairy Garden

We’re addicted to making these magical mini-landscapes. They’re a lovely addition to garden paths, porches, indoor spaces, or nestled into flowerbeds. Don’t worry if you’ve never planted a fairy garden before. This DIY garden project is as simple as it is stunning!

• Gather your supplies. There are plenty of fairy garden items available in Jasper. Whether you’re looking for ceramic pots, fairy houses, tiny furniture, fanciful accessories, or lush plants for your fairy garden, you’ll find what you need at Whispering Springs Nursery.
• Choose your spot. If you want a mobile fairy garden, look for ceramic and terra cotta pots, unique planters like wicker baskets or wheelbarrows, or empty spaces in your flower beds. If you’re planting your fairy garden directly in the ground, make sure the spot you choose has adequate sunlight and good drainage.
• Arrange your design. Before you get started, it’s a good idea to plan your layout to ensure everything fits together. That way you don’t have to rip up succulents because you ran out of room for the cottage.
• Plant your magic. Choose a potting soil that has adequate drainage. Plant large-root plants first, then arrange your hardscape items and fairy accessories. Voila! Your garden has been transported to a storybook world.

Time to spread some fairy dust! Visit Whispering Springs Nursery for fairy garden supplies and tips.

Choosing the right plant for your landscape is only the first step in cultivating a garden that’s worth another look. Garden maintenance may be less fun than landscape design, but it does just as much for the beauty as planting bright annuals and richly textured trees. Are your plants wilting under the hot summer sun? Keep your yard bold and beautiful with our top summer garden care tips.

Summer Garden Maintenance

• Do your homework. Can’t wait to plant new summer flowers or a fresh veggie garden? Before you dig in, do your research. Choose plants that don’t just look great together, but also have similar growing conditions. Test the soil before you plant and supplement it as necessary.
• Dig in. Nobody wants weeds in the garden, but nobody wants to pull them up either. Weeding is unavoidable if you want a thriving landscape. Go ahead and dig in (or pay the neighbor kids to do it for you). Trust us, it’ll be a lot harder to uproot them later if you let them grow.
• Deadhead. Maybe you went on vacation and your house sitter neglected the yard. Maybe you forgot to water for a week. But if your summer flowers look droopy, there’s a simple solution: deadhead. Remove spent blooms on your annuals and perennials and, with a little TLC, they may blossom again before summer ends.
• Water. We live in Georgia after all. If you can’t survive 10 minutes outdoors without running inside for some sweet tea, you should seriously consider how much water you give your plants. Invest in a soaker hose, which allows water to penetrate the roots more deeply. Check how much water your plants need during the summer to survive. Most garden plants need about 1 inch per week.

Need a burst of inspiration? Whispering Springs Nursery has a wide variety of summer plants that thrive in the mountainous region of Jasper. Stroll our nursery and talk to our staff about planting and maintaining summer gardens.

Soaker Hose

Pollinators are an integral part of our ecosystem. They’re not just colorful birds flitting around our kitchen windows or butterflies dancing along the hedges. They’re the bees, bats, birds, and other creatures that are responsible for pollinating 75% of the plants we need for food, drinks, medicine, fabric, and spices. Unfortunately, pollinator populations are in decline. If you’re not ready to say goodbye to your morning coffee (coffee plants are pollinated by wild bees), it’s time to do your part in planting a pollinator garden.

Protecting Pollinators

Pollinators are in decline. Habitat loss, pesticides, grazing practices, and introduced species have drastically affected the bee population in the last few decades. Since 2006, the US has lost 40% of its commercial honeybee population. The World Conservation Union predicts that the reduction in pollinator populations, along with a variety of other factors, may lead to the extinction of roughly 20,000 flowering plant species in the next few decades. So what can gardeners in Jasper do?

Planting for Pollinators

• Before planting your first flower, take a look at your gardening practices. Are they eco-friendly? Reducing or eliminating chemical pesticides can go a long way toward helping pollinator populations.
• Plant a variety of native plants that flower at various points in the year. This provides nectar throughout the entire growing season.
• Don’t plant solitary flowers, trees, and shrubs. Clump native plants together in an artful arrangement. Not only will it look better, it has a better chance of attracting pollinators to the garden.
• Avoid planting invasive species. If you’re new to the area, ask the folks at Whispering Springs Nursery which native plants will attract pollinators, and which invasive species will only cause more damage.

Time to get to work! Visit Whispering Springs Nursery for native plants, landscape design tips, and information on how to protect pollinators.

Bee

Keeping plants healthy when they’re fully exposed to sunlight can be a challenge, but knowing which plants are suited for full sun is the key. Try sticking with native plants, as well as plants that are tolerant to heat and drought. Then, simply plan an arrangement and put that green thumb to work!

Full Sun Annuals

Because of their tendency to be tough and drought resistant, many annuals make popular and fitting choices for planting in full sun. Kansas’ state flower, the sunflower, isn’t picky about soil condition, making it a great choice for easy-going gardening in direct sunlight. Marigolds are similarly low-maintenance and come in different styles such as French, African and Triploid.

Full Sun Perennials

Plenty of perennials also fare well in hot, sunny conditions. Lavender loves hot, dry conditions, and smells wonderful anywhere you plant it. Any area that is nutrient-challenged is a great place for hens and chicks, or sempervivum, a unique style of succulent. The mother plant of this species always stays attached to its babies, helping them grow, so planting these with your children is a fun way to teach them about gardening.

Sunny Border Plants

The smaller, shorter plants used for edging and borders in your garden can often be susceptible to direct sunlight, but not with our help. It’s very important to keep soil type and moisture in mind when choosing your border plants. Yarrow, while technically an herb, is great for garden borders and is nearly care-free once planted. The beautiful daylily, which now has over 35,000 different hybrids, is another gardener’s favorite that needs little attention after you plant it.

For more help with your lawn and garden, contact the friendly gardening pros at Whispering Spring Nursery, or check out our services online any time.

Sunflower