With the influx of spring and the warm weather it brings, gardeners are getting out their garden tools, bags of fertilizer and gloves in preparation for the blooming season, as well as summer gardening.

Washington gardener and Washington Garden Club member Dee Congleton, who is extensively involved in maintaining local gardens and town beautification, says now is the time to do a few things in the garden that will help make vegetation fuller, more beautiful and healthier.

“You can prune your Knockout Roses now,” Congleton said. “I just did that in Harding Square and also in the Market Street garden.”

Congleton says gardeners with Knockout Roses can take off anywhere from a third to a half off of them, facilitating a thicker comeback with much more blooms. In regard to perennials, Congleton says Osmocote fertilizer is effective in their return, having a slow release that won’t burn the plants. Congleton also recommends the use of Bone Meal for shrubs like viburnums and Chinese Snow Balls, which have big, white blooms, she said.

“They’re coming out and they really love Bone Meal,” Congleton said. “ You can also use it around bulbs that are coming up. I used it today on my Chinese Snowballs.”

The North Carolina Cooperative Extension recommends similar care to spring-blooming bulbs, according to its website. It says to fertilize perennials and annuals in April with a slow-release fertilizer, much like Congleton’s use of Osmocote. As new growth emerges, use fertilizer around the bulbs. However, if they have already begun to flower, refrain from using fertilizer until November. Summer-flowering bulbs can be fertilized when shoots emerge.

According to the N.C. Cooperative Extension website, March is an excellent time to relocate plants or transplant container-grown plants. Fall-blooming perennials can be divided now, and be sure to provide adequate water to new plants and replanted divisions throughout the spring and summer to ensure they establish properly.

Congleton says the general rule when pruning is to do so after a plant or flower blooms. An example would be Wisteria, which would bloom much better, as a result, according to Congleton.

“The general rule is you prune after something blooms — if it blooms on old growth,” Congleton said. “Many of your blooming shrubs that bloom in spring, you don’t want to prune those until after it blooms.”

In regard to vegetable gardening, the Extension website says transplants of cool-season crops such as broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage can be planted in March, and asparagus beds should be established by the end of March. Lettuce, mustard, radishes, turnips and spinach can be started from seed through the beginning of April. However, potatoes should be planted by late March, the Extension website says.

With North Carolina weather compared to a perpetual ping-pong match—back and forth weather—frost is an issue gardeners must be weary of. Wait until after the last frost to plant warm-season crops such as tomatoes, cucumbers, squash and peppers. In the event of a late frost or two, be prepared to protect these crops, if necessary. Heat-loving crops such as okra, eggplant, sweet potatoes and watermelons perform better if gardeners wait an extra couple of weeks for soil and air temperatures to warm up for good, according to the Extension website.

In regard to flowers and plants and protecting them from potential frost, it may be useful to take potted plants inside or in a greenhouse at night, assuming they are taken out to get sunshine during the day.

“You still have to be careful of what you plant now because we could still have a frost,” Congleton said. “It all depends—frost varies. Perennials, frost will not kill them. If I were to take something out of the greenhouse, it might not survive (a frost) because it’s used to the greenhouse environment. To take something from a pot, I would wait a while right now.”

Another tip Congleton recommends for gardening this spring is to pull the weeds, which are prolific this time of year.

“The weeds will compete with the flowers coming up so I would say pull the weeds,” Congleton said.

All in all, spring gardening is a very vital time for gardeners. What one does in spring with their vegetables, plants and flowers could set the tone for the rest of the spring and summer.