• Turn up raised garden beds and seed with a cover crop (such as a blend of clover and pea seeds). Once it’s grown and before it goes to seed, turn it into the soil and let it decompose. This acts as a compost and adds organic matter back into the soil.

• Order seed packets and reserve fruit trees now. Apples, Asian pears, and plums are most successful here.

• Consider edible landscaping plants such as fruit trees and berry-producing shrubs.

• Prune deciduous trees and shrubs beginning in late March and continue pruning throughout the summer. Be careful not to prune flowering trees and shrubs that bloom on last year’s growth (old wood)— lilacs, for example. Wait until these plants are finished blooming and then prune shortly after the flowers die off.

• Conifers should be pruned in late fall to avoid Sequoia pitch moth damage.

• Research and plan to add perennials, trees, or shrubs to the landscape in late spring.

• Purchase or order annual and vegetable garden seeds with 65–80 days to maturity. Remember to add 14 days to the maturity date on the packet (this is approximately how long it will take for that plant to mature here in Central Oregon because this region has little to no plant growth at night).

• Plant seed flats for cool crops including broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and brussel sprouts.

• Gather branches of quince, forsythia, and other flowering ornamentals and bring them inside to force early bloom.

• Plant a windowsill container garden of herbs.

• Use a soil thermometer so you know when to plant vegetable and flower seeds. Cool season vegetables that germinate and grow at a soil temperature of 40 degrees or above consist-ently include beets, carrots, peas, radishes, lettuce, and spinach, to name a few.

• Now is a good time to repair, clean, sharpen, and maintain garden tools and equipment. Have lawn mower blades sharpened before you begin mowing the lawn this season.