This time of year will test a gardener’s patience. Each day grows longer and brighter. The crocus and daffodils are out, trees are starting to flower and some days are just so warm that we excitedly proclaim, “spring is finally here!”

And then you have a day like today, when temps are in the 30’s and frozen precipitation is falling from the sky. Womp-womp!

In the spring, I have counted 136 kinds of weather inside of 24 hours
Mark Twain

It’s hard to wait, but it’s critical to our pollinator friends that we let them stay snug a while longer in the plant stems and leaf piles from last year. The rule of thumb is to wait until temps are consistently above 50 degrees for about a week.

So what can you do instead?

Now’s the perfect time to get a head start on the invasives! Garlic mustard is already popping up and it’s best to pull it before it begins to flower. Creeping charlie, aka ground ivy, is also waking up and plotting a ruthless takeover of your lawn and gardens. With all the rain we’ve had lately, it is a great time to yank that stuff out.

If you’re looking for a bigger challenge, chances are you’ve got Japanese barberry in a wooded area near you. As you drive around town, you’ll see the greenish hue of these bad boys all throughout the woods. Getting rid of it requires some muscle – see the recommended methods here: Japanese Barberry

Of course you can also do some of what I call gentle cleanup. Pick up branches and sticks and debris that has blown around the garden and put them on your compost pile. If you really must tidy up your gardens, try gently relocating the plant material to a pile somewhere inconspicuous. This ensures that whoever might be snoozing in there will be able to stay alive and can emerge when the time is right.

If you’ve already cleaned up some or all of your beds, don’t beat yourself up. Just keep this in mind for in mind for next year. Those beneficial bugs need to stay snug until it’s warm enough for them to come out without freezing.