For avid gardeners, hope never ceases to spring eternal. They plant seeds, then nurture them for months before the fruits of their labor sprout to reality. Even with ample hope and optimism, gardeners could benefit by entering the new year with a short list of goals and a plan to achieve them.
In honor of Fairfield County CT’s location in USDA zone number 6, here are 6 resolutions that are all easily within reach.
- Save Eggshells
- Of course committing to a full composting station is ideal, but before you start piling on resolutions, remember it’s always easier to improve throughout the year. Place a small container with a lid under the kitchen sink to store your empty eggshells. When spring arrives simply crush them into small pieces and layer them into your garden soil. Flowers, vegetables, and even shrubs will benefit from their nutrients.
- Take One Gardening Class
- Gardening classes will not only you expose to new information and provide reminders about key elements they also host interactions with fellow gardeners. Socializing with like minded optimists is a wonderful secondary benefit to attending a class. The Greenwich Botanical Center is the premier community resource for classes.
- Test Your Soil
- It never fails. As the year unfolds, bags of fertilizer arrive labeled with each respective season. Rather than apply fertilizers based on the season, you can quickly customize which fertilizers (if any) should be added to help your garden thrive. The University of CT offers soil tests that will tell homeowners precisely which fertilizers to add or remove from gardens, potentially saving countless applications, not to mention hours in the garden.
- Plan for May Day
- The cold winter days are ideal for planning the garden of your dreams. On May 1st the chances of a frost drop to 50%, yet without a plan the chances of over/(under) buying plant material or placing a plant in an area where it won’t thrive is likely 100%. Put your winter days to work by designing the garden of your dreams. A list of environmentally trained designers is maintained on the Town of Greenwich’s Conservation Commission site and at the Greenwich Botanical Center.
- Plant a Viburnum
- There are more than 150 cultivars of viburnums. This wide range of aesthetic characteristics enable gardeners to choose between those that are evergreen, semi-evergreen or deciduous. Some are under two feet in stature while others are towering 20 footers. The Arrowwood Viburnum is the host for the Spring Azure butterfly. Its fruits are eaten by songbirds, grouse, wild turkeys and squirrels alike. Best of all, Rutgers University gives Arrowwood Viburnum a deer rating of A, meaning it is rarely damaged by deer.
- Reduce Your Turf
- Lawn, glorious lawn. Unless, of course, you happen to be a bird, butterfly, or even a new home buyer. Today more than ever people and wildlife alike are looking for homes with less lawn and more native, low maintenance, gardens. Find one sunny, grass filled area and let your creativity flow.
Don’t forget to slow down and appreciate your collaboration with Mother Nature. Use your best natural camera - your mind’s eye - to capture the visuals. Click a few photographs for posterity sake, keeping in mind that gardens put on a new show with each season.