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5 Tips for Planning your Spring Garden from the Spruceland Homes Team

While Atlantic and Eastern Canada have been battling massive amounts of snow and bitter cold, here in the beautiful Fraser Valley it’s time for residents of the award-winning community of Garrison Crossing and elsewhere to get gardens ready because spring has come early this year.

This sustainable community, much of which was built by Spruceland Homes alongside The Canada Lands Company features a mix of single family houses, multi-family homes, grand executive lots, rowhouses, townhomes, condos, and Manhattan-inspired brownstones so garden planning might vary from digging out a full garden plot to box gardening or container planting.

Here are some ideas to get everyone started:

  • Check the soil. If you’re hoping for beautiful blossoming flowers or a plentiful harvest from a veggie patch you need quality soil. Some older homes may have had garden plots in the past. If you dig and don’t find rich dark soil that crumbles, don’t despair! Now is the time to improve existing soil by digging in compost, building it up with free soil if you can find some available, or adding a good garden blend from your local garden centre.
  • Box it up. One of the biggest gardening trends is to create a container garden rather than dig down into the soil to cultivate a garden patch. It’s easy to do and there are many ideas online for great ideas that will work large and small spaces – including upcycling old plain wood pallets into clever container gardens. Create your box, fill it with great soil, and your new garden is ready to grow.
  • Follow the sun. Ideally you want to put your garden in a spot that gets roughly six hours of direct sunlight a day. If your garden faces south, many gardeners recommend you plant east to west to allow for the best distribution of sunshine (tallest plants north of the shorter varieties). For those who will have more shade, plan for flowers or vegetables that prefer shade to direct sunshine. The back of seed packages will explain the optimal growing conditions.
  • Plan for success. If this is your first year testing out your green thumb with a home garden, start small. A plot of a couple metres in size or a few container boxes is a good start and won’t be too overwhelming. This is especially important for families looking to inspire their children with sustainable gardening practices.
  • Draw up your plan. Usually the earliest vegetables may be planted in April and gardeners wait until the May long weekend to put in the summer plants like tomatoes or beans and other hot weather plants. It feels, so far, as though we can be a bit optimistic that we’ll have a longer growing season here in the Fraser Valley this year. Here is a suggested schedule for planting:

March: get the soil weeded, nourished, and ready for planting; if the weather is mild plant some greens and root vegetables

April: start peppers, tomatoes, and melons indoors; plant carrots, onions, beets, kale, potatoes, and lettuce

May: start cucumbers, pumpkin, and squash indoors; transplant previously planted veggies when risk of frost is unlikely; plant more beans, peas, and greens

June: transplant May seedlings; plant strawberries, more peas, beans, greens

If you’re feeling uncertain about how to plant or what to plant, don’t despair! Head to theannual Chilliwack BC Outdoor Living Show from March 27, 28, and 29 at the Chilliwack Heritage Park. This year is the 13th annual for the show, which features 60,000 square feet of yard, garden, and home ideas.

If you would like to live in this highly walkable Garrison Crossing neighbourhood, we have great news! We are building 52 new, three-storey townhomes at Edgemont with fabulous interiors and choice of three distinct exterior architectural styles.

Visit our Discovery Centre at 45510 Market Way, open 1-4pm daily. Call us for more information at 604.991.5151.