Local Expert Shares Spring Garden Tips

Spring is finally coming into bloom in Cape May County, and planning is the key to a thriving garden that will last through the whole season. Diane Frank Mills, of Secluded Acres Farm and Garden Center in Rio Grande, is excited to help local gardeners get started in their garden beds, flowerpots, and planting boxes. Here are some tips she shared with the Herald for beginner gardeners hoping to get their hands dirty:  
Prepare the soil. There’s a real temptation to plop down spring flowers without doing preparatory work beforehand. To guarantee success, Diane recommends fertilizers that are appropriate for spring flowers. She recommends a local fertilizer brand out of Millville, “Espoma Company,” that produces specific fertilizers for different kinds of flowers. Their “Plant-tone” is an all-purpose organic fertilizer that should do the trick for most spring flowers. Those looking to add compost to their garden should try a mushroom compost, she said. “Something else people do this time of year is adding mushroom compost. Its great compost to mix in and fertilize the ground.”
Pick plants that can handle the weather. Secluded Acres has been re-opened for just over two weeks, and Diane said that dozens of customers have already asked if they can start planting peppers, tomatoes, and other summer vegetables. Because of the cold weather that comes in fits and bursts throughout the spring in Cape May County, she said that it is best to wait until around Mother’s Day to plant these summer veggies. But the following vegetables and flowers can take the cold weather and are appropriate to plant right now even in early spring. 
Pansies: These edible flowers are hardy and add a nice inexpensive splash of color to any garden setup. They can be planted in a garden bed, planter, or pot. Diane said, “they can handle the cooler weather here, so that’s usually the first flower that we start the season with. They come in a wide range of colors. If you look up a pansy, they’ll sometimes refer to them as a ‘flower with a face.’ It’s just nice to see fresh, bright, new spring color coming out of winter.’”
Cool-weather vegetables: Gardeners don’t have to wait until summer to start a vegetable garden. Diane said that Lettuces, broccoli, Brussel sprouts, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, and peas can all survive the wind and colder weather of pre-summer.  
Daffodils, hyacinths, tulips: It isn’t too late to plant these bulbed flowers even though they are planted from bulbs in the fall. These popular Easter flowers can be purchased and planted “pre-sprouted” in the springtime if you forgot to plant them before winter. Diane said, “They have to already be started to plant in the spring. They should already have leaf growth if you want to plant them right now.”
Think about the future. Though it’s too early to plant a lot of popular garden items, it isn’t too early to prep for their arrival. If your garden boxes are looking a little worse for wear, now is a good time to give them a fresh coat of paint or to clean them out of last year’s debris. Diane also recommends fertilizing evergreen plants that flower later in the summer, especially plants that require an acid-rich soil base. “Now is the time to fertilize your acid-loving plants in the garden with ‘Holly-tone’, like azalea, rhododendrons, hydrangeas, and many verities of evergreens.”
Secluded Acres Farm and Garden Center is located at 1024 NJ-47, Rio Grande, and can be reached at 609-886-8574. They share frequent inventory updates and garden tips on their Facebook page.