The best time for garden prep comes in winter’s waning days

This column is back, reinvigorated after a winter hiatus.

In that spirit, it’s time to reinvigorate your garden, if you’ve taken a hiatus, even if it means pulling on the long underwear and wool socks. Once spring hits, there won’t be time to get it all done, said Michelle Clark, a certified professional horticulturist and a gardener for 30 years.

She gave a talk, “Get the Jump on Spring,” at the Washington State University extension office in Everett recently, part of a lecture series that’s been sold out since Thanksgiving. Here’s Clark’s to-do list:

Evaluate

Begin by assessing the structural elements in your garden, including major trees and shrubs, she said. What are you missing? Most people have plenty of tall plants or not enough. Same goes for evergreen and deciduous trees; the garden needs both. Make notes on what you see, she said.

Next, take a camera into the garden and photograph the front of the property, the home entry, living areas such as the patio and planting beds. She has done some of her best garden design through the lens of a camera because it helps her focus on one part of the garden, she said. She suggested taking photos of the garden each season.

Finally, edit. If plants are overgrown, it’s often better to get rid of shrubs, rather than prune. Don’t be afraid to get rid of plants you don’t like. “I’m here to give you permission to take it out,” she said. There are too many good plants available to suffer along with plants that aren’t working or that you hate.

Clean

Organize the tool shed. Clean and sharpen the tools. In the garden, pick up dead branches, rake the leaves and weed. Pre-emergent products such as Preen and corn gluten target weeds that haven’t emerged but don’t do anything for the existing weeds. If you’re overwhelmed with weeds, she suggested layering newspaper on top and then a layer of compost. Over a stretch of time, the weeds will break down. Don’t use vinegar this time of year, since it requires heat to work.

Prepare

It’s too early to work on the lawn with the exception of Clark’s favorite activity, edging. “If you do nothing else, your yard will look fabulous,” she said. Now is the time to prune many trees and shrubs, but not all. Get rid of diseased, dead and dying foliage.

You don’t want to prune shrubs that flower in the spring on last year’s wood. If you’re not sure what kind of shrub you’re dealing with, she suggested using the one-third rule: Prune one third of the branches to the ground. That way, you’ll still get a few blooms. If you have roses, remove last year’s leaves.

If you plan to spray trees, consider using horticultural oils, also known as summer oils, which suffocate insects and mites. “It’s one of the least toxic things you can do and it takes care of eggs that were laid that you didn’t know were there.” As with all chemicals, read the directions.

You can cut back most grasses, with the exception of carex and blue grasses, from which you can comb out last year’s dead foliage. Divide your grasses if they’re looking big and ratty.

Clark said she also divides many of her perennials now. She has a tough-love policy in her garden. “If it doesn’t make it, oh well.”

If you’ve forgotten to plant bulbs in the fall, go ahead and plant them now, unless they’ve gotten soft. And you’ll have to step up the slug control. “This is going to be the year of the slug,” she predicted. Choose a product with iron phosphate, which is the least toxic alternative for pets. Here’s a great tip: sprinkle the stuff in the crowns of hostas, heucheras and other plants that slugs like to munch. That will take care of the voracious slug babies when they emerge from their eggs, she said.

Plan

Think about adding something new to the garden. Think about color and texture. She suggested visiting the nursery every month to get a sense of the best plants for each season. Consider the design of the containers. Many of her garden’s trees and shrubs got their starts in large containers. After a few years, she pulls them out and plants them in the landscape. Clark’s basic recipe for a container includes one small shrub (she likes nandina), one perennial, such as a huechera, and one grass.

Don’t forget:

Water plants hidden under your eaves. She suggested investing in a moisture meter. And finally: Remember those containers over-wintering in the garage? Check on them.

Reporter Debra Smith: 425-339-3197 or dsmith@heraldnet.com. Visit her blog at www.heraldnet.com.