How we try to control the chaos
Maintenance Calendar
Here’s our rough seasonal maintenance calendar. It’s driven by the weather, of course, and the weather is … the weather.
Spring
March – May
Weather gradually warms but frost possible until mid-to-late May. That’s when the season really gets rolling.
- Prune dormant trees and shrubs.
- Cut back perennials and grasses.
- Prep for and plant veggies and annuals.
- Start weeding and mowing.
Summer
June – September
Warm to hot weather, often with stretches of no rain. First frosts maybe in mid-September.
- Weed and mow. Repeat.
- Any hardscape projects or other maintenance that can be done in warm weather.
Autumn
October – November
Weather gradually cooling. Good working weather.
- Plant and transplant any perennials.
- Plant any new bulbs.
- Clear out veggies and annuals. Prep for a head start on next spring if possible.
Winter
December – February
Unless we get lucky, nothing happens outdoors except snow removal.
- Order any seeds for this year
- Plan any special projects
- Prune dormant trees and shrubs if weather allows
August 2026
September 7, 2026
August was a good month for getting a surprising number of smaller projects done, and for cleaning up after installing the new deck.
July 2026
July 31, 2026
July was a pretty typical summer month in the garden. Things are blooming, things are growing — including weeds, like, well, weeds — and it’s been occasionally too damn hot (or smoky) to do anything outdoors.
June 2026
July 5, 2026
With the perennial garden replanted and annuals done for the year, June meant — as it usually does — catching up on weeding and pruning that didn’t get done while we were working on that.
May 2026
June 5, 2026
May is always the busiest month, with annuals to pot and plant, plus regular spring maintenance. This year we added two major projects: resurfacing the deck and renovating the perennial garden.
April 2026
May 5, 2026
It’s been a very wet and chilly spring so far, so we’ve had to be selective with maintenance. Parts of the yard are too soggy to mow, and in some cases even to walk in. It’s finally starting to dry out enough to transplant.
Planning for Annual Maintenance
January 20, 2026
Every year I feel like May is a mad rush of too many things to do in too little time. Every year I feel like I could be making better use of my gardening time outside of May. But I never do. So this year I’m trying something different.
2024 in the Garden
January 1, 2025
As is usually the case, I accomplished far less than I planned to. We were more consistent with maintenance this year, and continue to tweak things to make maintenance easier.
