Spring Gardening Tips Available from Extension Educators

Contact: Lois Berg Stack, (207) 581-2949; Mark Hutchinson, (207) 832-0343

ORONO — With the ground beginning to thaw and dry out, gardeners will be anxious to begin tilling and planting. University of Maine Cooperative Extension educators have several tips to help gardeners make the most of their preseason preparations.

Number one, says Extension ornamental horticulture specialist Lois Berg Stack in Orono, “don’t start your spring gardening activities too quickly.”

Soil needs to dry out before it can bear the weight of being walked on. Running garden equipment, lots of walking, and digging can destroy soil structure, she says. Wait until the soil dries out.

“If you’re not sure whether your soil is fertile enough, test it,” she advises “Your soil may be perfectly capable of providing enough of many plant nutrients. Adding them without knowing what you’re soil already has is a waste of time, effort and money. And over-fertilizing can pollute our surface waters.”

If the garden soil is heavy with, say, too much clay, or light with too much sand, gardeners can improve soil’s ability to grow crops by adding organic matter like compost, manure, or composting in place or growing cover crops.

“You may in fact use all of these methods in your garden,” she says. “Learn which works best in specific situations.”

Extension Educator Mark Hutchinson in the Knox-Lincoln counties office says many gardeners add washed up seaweed to add nutrients to the soil, but there are some things to keep in mind when harvesting and applying seaweed, he says.

“Seaweed provides trace elements and organic matter to the soil,” he explains. “Seaweed can be collected from the shoreline, but laws prohibit the taking of attached and growing seaweed without permits. Seaweed can be used as a mulch around plants or incorporated in the soil. It can also be added to your compost pile.”