Notices Everything...
Firstly, the Good Spring Gardener is a good 'noticer'. She (or he) sees and anticipates, checking the spring garden every day, noticing everything! For example, all those delightful little beginnings - the new green shoots on the Lupins and Delphiniums, the fattening buds on the Rhododendron and Camellia shrubs...

And all the bigger, less obvious changes - like Prunus trees on the fence-line suddenly bursting out into pink blossom, and the big Wattles overhead covering themselves in bright yellow flowers...

And because she (or he) has been a good 'noticer' in past springs, the first Camellia, the first miniature daffodils, the first snowdrops, and so on, will all be appreciated at the right moment. Nothing will be left to a chance wander past. All bloomers can be satisfied that their own special debut flowering will be seen and marvelled at.
Calm and Consistent...




The Good Spring Gardener is calm and consistent, noting all the daily changes in her (or his) garden. This gardener is never taken by surprise by the bluebells, and will never suddenly discover an early blooming rhododendron, and rudely shriek at it out loud. She (or he) doesn't gush when the peony stalks are a foot high and then forget to look for weeks, missing the grand opening! There is no panic in the personality...
Special varieties - I don't want to miss them.
Spring Daffodils
And Forgiving...

The Good Spring Gardener is also forgiving. The wind may blow down all the new blossom, and favourite rhododendron Percy Wiseman may decide to have a year off. Rain may flatten all the fancy split corona daffodils and push their pretty heads into the mud.
Subtle lime green flowers.
Spring Hellebore
C'est le Printemps!

But this gardener can just shrug her (or his) weary shoulders. C'est le Printemps! Completely at one with the spring season, she (or he) accepts nature's impeccable sense of timing. Eek!
Excels at Garden Maintenance

Finally, it goes without saying that the Good Spring Gardener will also excel in mundane garden maintenance. Understanding that spring is the busiest garden time, she (or he) is happy to sit or kneel in mud to micromanage the tiniest green weeds - and is patient with the taproots of dandelions and docks, pulling oh so slowly.

And, by the way, garden tools are always safe and secure, particularly in spring (when they need to be at their sharpest and cleanest). Never, ever will the secateurs used for late pruning the roses be found rusting in the compost heap - or smouldering in the ashes of the rubbish fire!

Creating Microclimates to Facilitate Growth

Many gardeners live in areas where almost anything can grow effortlessly.
Just plant the seeds and water it for a few weeks, and you’ve got a
beautifully lush plant. But if you live in somewhere like Colorado, you’ll
understand what its like to have a slim selection of plants that naturally
grow. It can be quite a challenge to facilitate the growth of a large
variety of plants, especially when the very world you live in seems to be
rooting against you.

Some people solve this problem by loading up their plants with every type
of chemical and fertilizer known to man. This usually works, but to me it
seems kind of unnatural to rely on man made materials to keep your plants
alive. Also, if I’m growing fruits or vegetables, I don’t feel very
comfortable eating something that is entirely composed of chemicals.

A gardening theory that I have relied on in the past to grow many types of
plants is that of creating a “microclimate” for each type of plant. This
is when you regulate the sunlight, shade, moisture, and wind factors for
each separate plant. It sounds like a challenge, and it is. But you can
regulate these factors in such a way that the plant feels just like it is
in the ideal growing conditions. This can be achieved by the use of wind
barriers, shading umbrellas, extra water, or different types or amounts of
compost.

If you’re ready to make an attempt at creating microclimates, you’ll need
to make a detailed plan in advanced. You should start by finding a large
shade providing bush or tree that will grow fast and naturally in your
area. Just look at some undeveloped plots of land and see what is there.
Most likely it grew on its own without any planting or care. This is what
you want to happen. Usually the growing of one plant can bring about the
growing of another more desirable plant.

If you have a fence in your backyard (you would be surprised at how many
people don’t) then you already have a good amount of shade to work with.
You can start the microclimate process using just the shade of the fence,
combined with (perhaps) a screen or large bush to shade your new plant for
the other half of the day that the fence doesn’t take care of. The fence
is also useful for shading against wind for very fragile plants.

Once you have established the shade, be it natural or unnatural, you have
created a slightly less harsh miniature environment. You must remember
this is a gradual process, and find a new plant to put in the shade of the
other one. Now your choices are a little more open. You don’t have to go
with a rugged plant like the one you did before; you can now choose a
plant that survives in cooler weather.

If the plant you are trying to grow next requires more moisture in the air
than your area provides, installing a fountain or small pond can fix this
problem due to the evaporation. You may think you don’t want to waste
water on a pond or fountain, but it’s all going toward the betterment of
your garden. It’s just like the watering process, only indirect. As an
added benefit, usually fountains are quite aesthetically attractive and a
great addition to your garden.

I can’t explain every stage of the process, because everyone’s goals and
setups are slightly different. But to reach your goal, you should do
research on every plant that you would like to have in your garden. Find
out everything you can about the zone that it flourishes in, and ask
yourself how you can emulate that zone within your own backyard. Almost
always you can take control of the environment and recreate whatever you
wish. Usually all it takes is some planning and strategy.

Choosing and Planting Perennials

If you’ve been growing a vegetable garden for a while, you might be feeling slightly disgruntled at how plain it is to look at. I too began my gardening career with a vegetable garden, but I decided that it wasn’t quite as pleasing to look at as I would have liked. I heard from a friend that the use of perennial flowers could be a great way to liven up my garden without adding any extra work for me.

Perennial flowers are strong, local flowers that come back every year without having to replant or do any extra work. During their off seasons, the flowers and stems die back and you can hardly even tell the plant is there (rather than just dying and looking like hideous brown clumps in your garden). When it’s time to bloom, entirely new flowers shoot up where the old ones were.

Before deciding whether to put in perennials or not, you need to make sure that your soil has proper drainage. If the water stays saturated for long periods of time, you should build a raised bed. To test, dig a hole and fill it with water. Wait a day, and then fill it with water again. All traces of water should be gone within 10 hours. If the hole isn’t completely dry, you will need to build a raised bed.

Picking your perennials can be a complicated process. The goal should be to have them flowering as much as possible during the year, so you should create an outline of the year. Research the different types of flower you want, and create a timeline of flowering. If you plan it right, you can have a different type of flower blooming at any point in the year. Getting just the right mixture of seeds can give your yard a constantly changing array of colors.

When you go to buy the seeds from your local florist or nursery, you might be able to find a custom seed mixture for your area. This takes the really tough research part out of the job. Usually these blends are optimized for the local climate, and do great jobs of having flowers always grow in your yard. If one of these isn’t available, you can ask the employees what they think would be a good mixture. They should be happy to help you put something together which will be optimal for whatever you desire.

You should definitely use mulch when planting perennials. This will reduce the overall amount of work you have to do, by reducing the amount of weeds and increasing the water retention. Bark or pine needles work great, I have found, and depending on the rest of your yard you might have them on hand at no charge. As for fertilizer, you should use it sparingly once your plants start to come to life.

When you actually go to plant the seeds, you should put them in small, separate clumps according to the directions. This is because they tend to spread out, and if you have too many too close together then they will end up doing nothing but choking each other out. As you plant them, throw in a little bit of extremely weak fertilizer. In no time at all you should start to see flowers blooming up.