Stuck at home? There’s plenty for you to do in the yard

Spring is not housebound, flowers and seeds are not in quarantine, and as I write this, your local nursery should still be able to sell you seeds, plants and potting soil. Growers and nurseries in our state have been deemed essential businesses during the coronavirus shutdown ordered by Gov. Jay Inslee.. Many local nurseries are offering curbside pickup, so make a list and call in your order. You can make this the week you dig in and start doing something healthy, green and productive with your time at home.

The top 10 things you can do now without leaving your property:

1. Weed. Pull up all the shot weed and dig out dandelions with a butter knife. Better yet, learn to use the dandelion greens and buds in a recipe. If you eat your weeds, you will make fewer trips to the grocery store.

2. Weed some more. This may be the first weed-free summer of your life if you can get down and dirty with the weeds this week before they go to seed.

3. Prune back those roses if they have grown into monsters. Just shorten all rose canes to 3 feet and remove anything dead, diseased or growing in the wrong direction. You can still prune if the roses are leafing out.

4. Mow and edge the lawn. Set mower high for spring mowing and cut the lawn more often. It is hard to cut a wet lawn, but it is not impossible. Try cutting every few days and raking up the wet clumps. Ridiculous? What else do you have to do with your time? Frequent lawn mowing is a good excuse to get outdoors and exercise.

5. Transplant all those overgrown shrubs and perennials that you keep meaning to move away from windows or into new areas. Hurry, as the best time to move plants is early spring while they are still dormant. Even if your Japanese maple or hydrangea is leafing out, if it needs to be moved, make this the week you dig it up and place it in a new location or into a large pot to give away. Yes, you can move plants in the rain. They much prefer a cool and moist day for the transplant operation over having their roots exposed to sunshine.

6. Dig up a sunny patch of lawn or loosen the soil in a shrub bed and work in some rotted leaves or compost. This is a good time to start a vegetable patch or a new flower garden. You don’t need to plant anything yet, but digging and turning the soil now will give you a head start when tomato plants, bean seeds and other warm-season crops can be planted in late May.

7. Plant cool-season crops like lettuce, kale, peas and sweet peas now. You don’t need a garden, as these crops do great in containers. Yes, you can reuse old potting soil. Just mix it up well to make it fluffy and add some plant food and a bit of compost. (I reuse my potting soil for two or three years then add it to the compost pile.)

8. Prune the brown, dead wood from your Japanese maples, your hydrangeas, fruit trees and any other tree or shrub you can reach. This can help stop the spread of viruses and disease – on you and the plants.

9. Clean up the garden debris from winter, sweep the porch and patio, pressure wash if you can and shake out the welcome mat. You are going to want things to look nice once you are allowed visitors again.

10. Did I mention pull the weeds? You can also plant clematis, blueberries, trees, shrubs, and perennials. There is always something to do in a garden. Stuck in an apartment? Even your houseplants could do with some re-potting this time of year. Just grow for it.

This story was originally published March 28, 2020 at 10:01 AM.