Here are ten essential gardening tasks for mid-spring to help welcome the season, alongside a few things best left untouched for now.

Winter can be unkind to gardens. Start your mid-spring gardening journey with a thorough Garden Inspection. Take a slow, mindful walk through your garden, noting any traces of winter, such as broken branches, chewed stems, or frost-lifted stones. Check fences, gravel paths, raised beds, and trellises for damage or subtle shifting. This is also the perfect time to assess your collection of vintage garden tools and prepare them for the season's work.

Now is the ideal time to transform your garden into a lush English cottage garden. Plant cold-hardy favorites like foxgloves, delphiniums, and violas. These classic English cottage garden plants establish quickly in mid-spring's temperate soil and provide structure and softness throughout the season.

If you've been considering a new ornamental tree or moving a mature shrub, do it before it leafs out. Use antique garden pottery or stoneware to frame new plantings and layer old-world charm into newly cultivated spaces.

As early bulbs fade, remove only the spent flowers. Let the foliage remain until it yellows completely—this feeds next year's bloom. Allowing these leaves to linger also gives your garden a more relaxed, storied look that pairs beautifully with rustic garden antiques.

Daffodils, tulips, and other early bloomers will soon finish their spring show. While you can remove the spent flowers, let the green foliage remain until it has entirely died back. This allows the bulbs to photosynthesize and store energy for next year's bloom.

Did you miss dividing hostas or daylilies last fall? Mid-spring gives you a second chance. Lift and split now to encourage healthier growth, create fuller borders, and add variety where the garden feels sparse.

Containers come into their own before the beds do. Fill them with pansies, primroses, or violas and scatter them near entries, benches, or stairways. Consider planting into antique garden urns and planters—weathered stone or iron will age beautifully into the scene.

With soil still soft, now is the time to sharpen edges. This simple, rhythmic task carves out clarity and form before summer's fullness arrives.

Winter has a way of misplacing stones. Re-set pavers, sweep gravel paths, and clear moss from steps. Add a new focal point with an antique garden sculpture or reposition a favorite English garden statue to reframe a view.

As your garden blooms, supporting plants like Annabelle hydrangeas and peonies is essential. Install plant supports now while growth is minimal. This simple yet crucial task ensures their form unfurls naturally, preserving the aesthetic appeal of your garden and preventing your Victorian garden furniture or urns from being engulfed by overzealous greenery.

1. Don't Clean Up Leaf Debris Too Soon

Pollinators and beneficial insects still shelter beneath the dried leaves and hollow stems. Hold off cleanup until fruit trees finish blooming or lawns need mowing.

2. Don't Prune Spring-Flowering Shrubs

Shrubs like lilac, forsythia, and camellia bloom on last year's wood. Wait until flowering is complete before pruning.

3. Don't Fertilize Perennials Prematurely

Feeding too soon encourages leggy, soft growth. Wait until plants are well-established and soil temperatures rise.

4. Don't Seed Lawns Too Early

Cool nights will delay germination. Wait until soil temperatures are reliably warm.

5. Don't Rush Tender Plantings

Tempting though it may be, resist planting tender vegetables and annuals until all danger of frost has passed—or keep covers ready.

Browse our Garden Collection and begin shaping a space that feels not just designed but remembered—a garden rooted in rhythm, rich with history, and entirely your own.