The beginning of the calendar spring is not a reason to plunge headlong into the maelstrom of summer cottage work. There are 9 useless and even harmful actions in the garden that you will only waste your time and effort on.
Trample snow under the trees
Trampling snow under trees is said to help protect roots from rodents and treacherous spring frosts. In fact, this is how you expose the tree to serious danger - it will either not yield a crop, or even die (if it is still young).
Due to constant temperature fluctuations, packed snow turns into a dense ice crust, which can lie until May. As a result, the roots will “sleep” under the ice, and the crown will come to life in full under the warm spring sun. Frozen roots simply cannot provide sufficient nutrition to branches with swollen buds.
Whitewash tree trunks
If you think that the spring whitewashing of trees will save them from pests, you are mistaken. Neither garden paint nor diluted chalk will deter insects from the delicious bark. You can paint the trunks in the spring only for beauty (and very doubtful).
In fact, trees need to be whitewashed in winter. The light colored paint helps protect the barrel from frost cracks and burns caused by the sun's rays reflecting off the snow.
Hurry to take cover
Feeling the pleasant warmth of the first spring rays, do not rush to remove the shelters from the plants. In early spring, sunny weather is now and then replaced by frosts (and they are quite severe). Because of your rush, plants that have successfully survived the winter may not survive the spring.
Hurry to treat trees from insects and pests
It is important to treat trees from pests before the buds bloom, but this does not mean that you need to start spraying from the first spring day. Until the air warms up, the insects will sleep under the snow or in the ground, and the chemicals will not affect them in any way.
But the treatment will still have an effect on trees. Droplets of solution trapped in cracks in the bark will turn into pieces of ice in the next frost. This will lead to the formation of even larger cracks, in which microbes and bacteria destructive to the tree can multiply.
Spread organic fertilizer in the snow
It is believed that if you scatter organic fertilizers (ash, peat, humus) over the snow, it will melt faster and the soil will be saturated with nutrients. But it turns out exactly the opposite.
Under the influence of organic matter, the top layer of snow will indeed melt, but in the next night frosts it will turn into an ice layer, which may not melt until May. As a result, the soil will not have time to warm up, and fertilizers will flow away along with the melt water.
Roughly shake ice and snow off trees
If you think that shaking off (or even knocking) snow from trees will speed up bud awakening and increase yields, you are greatly mistaken. In fact, such manipulations greatly weaken and injure the branches. As a result, instead of abundant fruiting, all the vital resources of the tree will be used for restoration.
It is necessary to shake off the snow, if it is wet, then under its weight the branches cannot break. But you need to do this as carefully as possible.
Burn the grass
Burning grass (and anything in general) at a summer cottage is illegal - you can get a fine for this.And also insects and microorganisms die in the fire, among which are not only pests, but also useful ones. At the place of burning grass, humic substances disintegrate, due to which the soil fertility is significantly reduced.
Buy awake seedlings
Saplings that have already started their first leaves or even buds look very attractive. But the vegetation process and an open root system are incompatible concepts. In this situation, the seedling will most likely die, even if you immediately plant it in the ground.
Awakened seedlings can only be bought in containers or in bags with earth.
Untimely planting seedlings and seedlings
Timeliness is important in matters of planting seedlings and seedlings. If you do this too early, immature plants will die in cold ground and under the influence of periodic frosts. If you hold the purchased seedlings outside the ground for several days, they are unlikely to take root.
The purchase of seedlings can be carried out only when the soil warms up enough and is fully prepared for planting.
