With less than one month to go until the calendar turns to spring, we’re in the home stretch. Despite Wiarton Willie’s Groundhog Day prediction of an early spring, it’s unlikely we’ll see any real spring weather for at least a couple of months here in Ontario. That doesn’t mean we can’t get a head start on spring gardening with some winter gardening activities.
If, like me, you’re anxious to shake the winter doldrums and look ahead to green grass and warmer days, here are 5 things you can do now to get ready for spring.
This post was originally published in February 2021 and updated in February 2024.
5 ways to get a head start on spring gardening
Reflect on last year
Grab a cup of tea and think back to last year. If you keep a garden journal, get it out and review it. If you don’t keep a journal, it’s a good habit to get into.
Think about your successes and failures last year. What worked? What didn’t? Are there things you’d like to try again?
Last year, I had good success growing tomatoes and bell peppers in pots on my deck. On the other hand, I’m still struggling to find things that will grow in our north-facing garden. The lack of sunlight is compounded by large maple trees. I love those trees and the shade they provide on a hot sunny day, but they definitely pose a challenge from a gardening perspective.
Plan and research what you’d like to change this year
While you can’t get out in the garden and do any work, you can spend time planning and researching new things to try. I’ve been saving pins to my Gardening board on Pinterest over the winter. Now is a good time to revisit them and get some ideas.
Considering my success growing vegetables in pots on my sunny deck, I’m going to look at options for larger containers so I can do more of that this year. I’ll also research vegetable options that need less sunlight. A couple of my favourite sites for research are the Ontario Seed Company and The Old Farmer’s Almanac.
Order supplies and seeds
Now that you’re done reflecting and have done some research, it’s a good idea to order supplies and seeds.
Last year, I didn’t plan ahead and got caught short when the garden centres were closed due to the pandemic. When I went to plant my bell peppers, I had one lonely seed. You can read the story of that seed in What I’m grateful for this Thanksgiving.
Make a list of what you need and put an order in now.
Let’s keep in touch! Join my mailing list and I’ll email you when I add a new post.
Start seeds indoors
This year for the first time, I’m planning to grow flowers from seed as well as vegetables. A couple of weeks ago, I started my geraniums and have them happily growing under my grow lights.
If you’re starting seeds indoors, it’s a good idea to plan a schedule of what you need to plant when. Or you’ll end up like me and be perpetually two weeks behind where you should be!
Feed the birds
Finally, don’t forget our feathered friends.
A bird feeder provides great entertainment and ensures the birds have something to eat in the dead of winter. In colder climates, it can also improve their chances of surviving the winter and give them a better chance of success at nesting in spring.
The cardinals, chickadees and mourning doves are regular visitors to our feeder all winter long. But don’t get me started on the squirrels. Although I get annoyed when they hog all the birdseed, I have to give them credit for their acrobatic skills and determination to overcome any obstacle thrown their way. Is there really such a thing as a squirrel-proof bird feeder? I’m not sure there is.
We’re still three months away from the last frost here in Kitchener, but there’s a lot we can do now to set ourselves up for spring gardening success.
What’s your favourite winter gardening activity? Tell us about it below. And, if you have any tips for keeping squirrels off your bird feeders, I’d love to hear them too.
This is a little random, but where did you get your growing lights from? I have a few plants that need sun but since I’m too lazy to take them outside every few days, they aren’t thriving.
I got my grow lights last year from Amazon. They have a pretty good selection.
I wish I had read this article when I started my gardening attempts in 2020 🙂 I’m happy I followed my intuition to grow seeds indoors first. Going to bookmark this post to come back. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you. Gardening is definitely a learning experience. Every year has little wins and losses. Maybe eventually I will get good at it! 😀
I’m sure you will, you’re doing great!
Great tips! My Mum has already started buying plants and planting things. I honestly can’t wait for Spring!
I know exacly what you mean. Spring can’t come fast enough for me.
I am looking forward to planting and working on my garden this year. If I reflect on my previous attempts, I realize that not only have I not done enough planning, I also at the same time have really just thrown myself into and “gone for it” so to speak. Thanks for this helpful post! I’m excited for my garden this year now.
Hi Nicole. The one thing I have learned about gardening is it’s a lot of trial and error. So many times, I have been excited to plant something and it doesn’t grow. But, when it works it’s so worth the effort! Good luck with your garden this year.
Love this! My mum plants tons of seeds and has a big schedule but this year I’m going to try and grow a few things on my own – great tips 🙂 x
That’s great Caroline. What are you planning to plant?
Love your little indoor seeding station! We use a big table in our basement and a light to start our seedlings and are currently warming up and wetting our dirt in preparation for planting. We keep a big garden and love the fresh food and herbs and flowers that come out of it!
It is always exciting to enjoy our homegrown produce. I just wish we had more of it. Our north facing garden is a bit of a problem. That’s why I’m hoping to find some big planters for our deck this year.
I need to start earlier this year, I always say that. But I don’t have seeds even, might go buy some online this weekend. You’ve inspired me to get myself sorted.
I got caught short on seeds last year so I planned ahead and ordered them in the fall. There’s still time to get started. I’ve only started the geraniums so far. Our last frost date is late May so I’ll start the rest of our veggies in mid March.
Already built a new plant bed a few weeks back for more growing space to be ready for an even more productive year. Also ordered some heirloom seeds for the first time to try a few more interesting varieties of veg so looking forward to seeing how that goes.
Planning & getting prepared early is certainly a top tip which I wish I did better last year. Still got some good results though so still very rewarding.
Thank you. I’m glad to hear you had a productive year last year. I try to get just a little more organized every year.
Spring is on its way. A flock of Robins flew thru our yard in South Carolina yesterday. Strange sight, I had never seen a whole flock of them.
Ooh. A flock of robins. I’ve never seen that before either. A friend who lives not far from here saw a robin last week. It’s so cold and snowy here right now, the poor thing must have been freezing.
I am ready for spring and getting into the garden. Thanks for the tips.
Interesting! Where I live now is actually the first place I can have a garden and I haven’t even thought about it. I’d love to do some fresh herbs. Thank you for sharing xx
http://www.lynnmumbingmejia.com
Oh that’s really cool Lynn. I found the key to gardening is to start small. I grew tomatoes in pots on my deck for years before getting more adventurous over the last few years.
Great post! I’m already thinking about what I’ll plant in my garden too. I haven’t been successful with eggplant in the past but I want to try again this year.
This winter I have been feeding the birds and squirrels. I don’t believe there is any squirrel-proof way to feed the birds so I have just embraced my squirrel visitors.😁
Ha ha. The squirrel’s are my husband’s nemesis. He’s always trying to come up with ways to outsmart them. Not sure what that says about him. LOL
Haha! I guess he likes the challenge! The squirrels won at my house. 😁