A Month-By-Month New England Gardening Calendar For Garden Pros

New England poses unique gardening challenges with its dramatic seasonal changes. As any seasoned local gardener knows, our short but intense growing season requires careful planning to make the most of our gardens each year. This month-by-month gardening calendar lays out essential garden tasks to help experienced New England gardeners prepare for, plant, maintain, and clean up their ornamental and edible gardens.

January Garden Planning

The new year kicks off an exciting time for garden planning and preparation. Before seed catalogs and nursery stock arrive, experienced New England gardeners use January to reflect on last year's gardening successes and challenges. Reviewing notes and garden maps made the previous season can reveal ongoing issues to amend in the soil or pest problems to mitigate.

Assess Previous Season

A thoughtful assessment is key to making improvements. As you page through photos and records, consider what worked well and what underperformed last year. Perhaps certain vegetable varieties bolted quickly in summer heat or a new shrub attracted deer browse. Celebrate wins like award-winning dahlias or prolific tomato plants too but note environmental factors that enabled this performance.

Be sure to record challenging aspects like diseases that emerged, sparse bloom on roses, or lackluster herb growth. This evaluation will directly inform garden purchases and tasks in the coming year.

Order Seeds & Plan Crop Rotation

Most seed catalogs hit mailboxes in January, offering tempting new vegetable, herb, and flower varieties for the coming growing season. As you browse colorful pages, factor in standout performers you might reorder alongside interesting new options to try. Refer to your seasonal garden maps to ensure crop rotations prevent pest and disease carryover.

Take stock of leftover seeds packets from past years as well to avoid doubling up on orders. Check expiration dates and store properly in cool, dark places until it's time to sow.

Clean & Organize

Without outdoor garden tasks calling, January offers the perfect opportunity to clean and organize gear for the busy months ahead. Carefully inspect each tool, wiping down blades and removing debris stuck to tines or wheel hoes. Use a steel brush to remove caked soil on bulbs planters or trowels.

Sharpen any blades that dulled through last year's work like loppers, hoes, or bypass pruners. Cut back damaged handles or split wood. Replace any missing screws tightened with nuts and bolts from the hardware store and sand splintered handles.

Lastly, thoroughly wash pots, seed trays, watering cans, and garden accessories that stored soil or debris. Use a mild bleach solution to disinfect and kill leftover fungus or bacterial disease.

Monitor Indoor Plants

While outdoor gardens rest, January is an ideal month to pay close attention to indoor plants. Carefully check each houseplant, inspecting stems and the undersides of leaves for tiny brown bumps that signal scale insects or cottony tufts from mealybug infestations.

Isolate and prune off affected leaves and stems with clean pruners. For more advanced infestations, use an organic neem oil foliar spray to smother and deter pests.

As you monitor plants, pinch back any stretched and straggly growth and remove dried up or yellow leaves to encourage fuller, bushy growth indoors this winter.

February Garden Prep

February continues the planning and seed starting phases to prepare for the imminent growing season. Garden pros also get a head start on key late winter pruning tasks this month.

Sow Indoor Seedlings

By February, most seed starting supplies have arrived for the gardening year ahead. This makes it the perfect time to sow frost-sensitive crops like tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants indoors under grow lights or in a bright, sunny window. Use sterile seed starting mix and warm the soil to 70-75degF to encourage quick, even germination.

Pay close attention to lighting, turning pots frequently and adjusting grow lights to remain 2-4 inches above new seedlings. Provide adequate airflow by gently blowing a fan over transplants to strengthen stems.

Prune Fruit Trees

Late winter signals the ideal window for pruning fruit trees like apples, pears, plums, cherries, and peaches. The chill makes it easy to distinguish live buds versus dead wood and pruning cuts heal quickly, preventing disease entry points.

When pruning stone fruits, remove crisscrossing, weak, and low-hanging branches first. Then selectively thin to open the canopy, alleviating pest and disease pressure when leaves emerge. Disinfect pruning tools before moving to another tree to avoid transmitting diseases.

Test & Amend Soil

While frost still resides firmly in the garden soil, February presents the perfect chance to test beds and plan targeted amendments. Mail-order soil test kits offer home gardeners an inexpensive way to decipher critical soil chemistry data including pH levels and nutrient deficiencies. From this insight, gardeners can calculate precisely how much lime, balanced organic fertilizer, or compost is necessary in each unique garden bed.

Place bagged orders for soil amendments and organic fertilizers so they arrive in time for late winter topdressings or early spring incorporation into beds before planting.

March Spring Planting Prep

March ushers in the official transition from winter prepping to the realization of spring planting ambitions. Garden pros carefully harden off seedlings and attend to early season pruning tasks before our short New England growing season commences in earnest.

Start Hardening Off Seedlings

Seedlings started in late winter quickly outgrow their containers and require hardening off before transplanting outdoors occurs. Place flats of seedlings outside when temperatures creep above 45degF for a few hours at a time. Pull them into shelter at night as cold frames or polytunnels offer extra frost protection extending their exposure periods.

Reduce watering slightly to slow growth and gently introduce wind and sun stimuli. Inspect for pests before bringing indoors for the night again. After 7-10 days, seedlings acclimate to withstand transplanting into garden beds.

Prune Berry Bushes

Before buds swell with sap fully, use clean, sharp bypasses pruners to selectively cut back old berry canes that produced fruit during the previous season. Target thin, spindly blueberry stems and remove weak blackberry or raspberry canes trailing on the ground. These pose disease risks.

Tip prune current season's vigorous shoots to promote branching for improved berry yields this coming summer. Dispose of pruned stems promptly from garden spaces to prevent pest or disease carryover later on.

Cut Back Ornamental Grasses

Left standing through winter for visual interest, early spring signals the time to cut back ornamental grasses like Miscanthus, Calamagrostis, and Panicum before new shoots emerge from the base. Use sharp bypass pruners or garden shears to trim cool season grasses down to within a few inches of the ground.

Collected debris makes excellent fodder for compost piles. But leave any seed heads present over winter for foraging birds before cutting grasses back.

April Planting & Growing

April showers usher in a flurry of planting activity outside, requiring careful attention to frost dates and emerging garden maintenance before rapid May growth accelerates.

First Plantings Outdoors

Once soil temperatures warm to 40degF consistently, directly sow hardy crops like spinach, lettuce, peas, radishes, beets, carrots, and parsley outside. Use row covers to buffer extreme cold snaps.

Hold off another month before transplanting tender seedlings like tomatoes, peppers, basil, and zinnias which require consistently warmer soil and air temperatures as well as no risk of frost.

Mulch, Mulch, Mulch

Adding a fresh layer of pine bark fines, wood chips, or shredded leaves around spring plantings prevents early flush weed growth while also regulating soil moisture and temperature fluctuation. Spread mulch pieces evenly 2-3 inches deep, taking care to avoid direct contact with tender plant crowns and stems.

As the material breaks down through the season, it infuses beds with beneficial organic matter to feed plants and biological life underground too.

Fertilize Your Lawn

Early spring presents prime turf grass root growth timing before most weeds germinate. This makes April the ideal window to fertilize lawns, encouraging deep green growth and density to outcompete weeds. Select a balanced organic fertilizer without quick-release synthetic chemicals.

Follow label instructions carefully, recalculating amount needed per package directions to avoid accidentally over-fertilizing. Proper fertilizer rates nourish lawns without leading to harmful runoff that pollutes local waterways and ecosystems.

Control Pests and Diseases

Monitor emerging plant growth closely for early infestations of aphids, spider mites, cabbage worms, asparagus beetles or flea beetles on greens and seedlings. Remove pests by hand immediately and spray plant-safe organic insecticidal soaps or neem oil solutions to deter repeat attacks before populations explode.

For plants prone to foliar diseases like powdery mildew or Anthracnose, apply preventative copper fungicide sprays starting mid-April before leaf wetness and humidity increase.

May Late Spring Gardening

The rush of late spring growth fills gardens rapidly through May. Gardeners must meticulously harden off seedlings Monitoring weather reports daily and installing seasonal support structures remain paramount tasks all month.

Harden Off Seedlings

Successfully transitioning seedlings from indoor shelters to the exposed garden hinges on proper hardening techniques. Slowly expose seedlings to full sunlight intensities for 6-8 hours at a time and bring indoors overnight if air temperatures may dip below 50degF still.

Provide wind protection while outside and monitor for pest or disease issues before permanently transplanting hardened off vegetable and flower seedlings after the average last spring frost date passes.

Install Summer Bulbs & Tubers

Memorial Day weekend traditionally signals the start of summer planting season across most of New England, making late May ideal for installing gladiolus, dahlia tubers, various lily bulbs, cannas, and elephant ears. Dig holes and beds the recommended planting depth for each bulb type according to foliage height and girth.

Enhance planting holes with slow release organic bulb food, sand, and compost to encourage strong root development and provide nutrients all season long following package directions.

Prune Early Flowering Shrubs

Spring garden focal points like lilacs, bridal wreath spirea, forsythia, weigela, and viburnum finish their spectacular albeit brief floral displays in late May. Once blooms fade entirely, prune back shoots emerging from the ground using sharp bypass hand pruners.

Target up to one third of total growth, shaping the shrubs into attractive mounded forms and selective open spaces to alleviate foliar disease issues common later in summer.

June Peak Planting

June marks peak planting time as seedlings finish hardening off and soil temperatures skyrocket. Beds fill quickly with lush veggie transplants and colorful annuals this month. Proper staking, watering, and pest control prove paramount.

Transplant Seedlings Outdoors

With no threat of frost, transplant hardy vegetable and herb seedlings like kale, chard, basil, dill, oregano, and parsley early in June. Hold off sowing seeds for quick-growing crops like bush beans, cucumbers, summer squash, and melons which prefer warmer soils directly planted.

Space transplants properly and bury root balls slightly deeper than container level to establish sturdy plants. Water new plants at soil level without wetting foliage to reduce foliar disease entry points.

Stake Tall Plants

Prevent flopping tomato, pepper, and pole bean plants by installing sturdy cages, trellises, and tepees in June for vines to climb naturally, promoting stronger stem structure and reducing disease risk. Use soft plant ties on stakes and prune suckers regularly.

For cut flowers like delphinium and tall sedums, place shorter decorative metal cages over clumps as foliar canopies develop to support substantial flower heads without buckling.

Weed Prevention

Apply organic mulch layers 2-3 inches deep around new plantings as well as under established perennials and shrubs to prevent flush weed seed germination and growth during peak summer growing season. Choice picks include pine fines, wood chips or shredded bark to allow airflow.

For large vegetable gardens, consider laying agricultural black plastic which solarizes beds, killing weed seeds and pests in upper layers while locking moisture below the surface.

July Maintaining & Harvesting

Careful summer garden maintenance ensures health plants during hot, often drought-prone months. Regular harvesting also encourages new blooms and fruit set on spent plants.

Watering 1-2" Per Week

Veggies and flowering plants often require supplemental irrigation to replace moisture lost during periods of peak summer heat and drought especially if mulch breaks down. Measure rainfall weekly and hand water thoroughly at the soil level to encourage deep taproot growth without wetting foliage prone to foliar diseases.

Installing drip irrigation delivers water slowly, directly to plant root zones for container and row plantings further reducing foliar diseases from overhead watering.

Fertilize Vegetables

Fast growing tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, melons, and squash are heavy nutrient feeders by midsummer. Replenish nitrogen levels for fruiting crops by working a balanced organic vegetable fertilizer or compost tea into top layers of soil.

Alternatively, spray plants with a liquid fish emulsion fertilizer every 2-3 weeks according to label instructions to continually feed heavy producing plants.

Prune Overgrown Herbs

Left unpruned, dill, basil, cilantro and parsley soon bolt and get leggy by July. Regular tip pruning prompts bushy, compact new growth on these culinary herbs. Always use clean bypass pruners wiping blades between plants to prevent potential disease transfer through pruning.

August Late Summer Gardening

As summer begins winding down, direct sowing fall veggies allows two short harvests per bed while perennial division gets underway before dormancy.

Prep For Fall Planting

Carefully clear spent spring crop residue and weeds from vegetable garden beds in early August preparing for fall planting. Work compost and organic fertilizer concentrates like alfalfa, kelp, and fish meals into soil to regulate pH and nourish fall roots.

Start lettuce, spinach, carrot, beet and other hardy seeds directly in prepared garden beds mid-August according to seed packet instructions. Use row covers if early cold snaps strike before maturity.

Overseed Lawns

Before prime autumn lawn growth cues up, overseed thin turf in August to fill bare patches from summer drying or heavy foot traffic areas. Mow lawns short and rake vigorously before spreading grass seed best suited for sun and soil conditions.

Gently water seed daily until germination. Then reduce watering frequency slowing to encourage deep roots before winter dormancy.

Harvest Summer Crops

Pick summer fruits and vegetables like tomatoes, pole beans, peppers, cucumbers, summer squash and zucchini regularly throughout August to spur further production before first fall light frosts signal the ending for warm season crops.

Freeze extras from large harvests to enjoy through winter or consider canning pickles and sauces too.

September Fall Gardening

September focuses on fall vegetable establishment plus ongoing planting and division of hardy perennials before cold weather sets in while lawns still actively grow before dormancy.

Direct sow second rounds of salad greens like lettuce, spinach and arugula which tolerate frosts and light freezes for extended fall harvests. Plant last successions of radishes, beets, peas, and kale as well transplants of broccoli, Brussels sprouts and cauliflower for maturity during cooler months.

Use season extending cloches and tunnels to protect fall crops as they size up before heavy frosts end the season.