Must-have spring rake
By: Garden Gate staff
| 1 of 4
Must-have spring rake
This flexible tool is more than just a one-season wonder. Click ahead for three ways a spring rake will come in handy this spring.
| 2 of 4
Clean out perennials
A spring rake is just the right tool for cleaning dead foliage and fallen leaves out of emerging perennials in spring. It’s “grabby” enough that it can easily snag dead foliage but flexible enough that it won’t damage the tender crowns of your spring plants. See how the rake just combs the stringy dead foliage from the daylily (Hemerocallis hybrid) at left? The key is to do it early, just as the new plants are greening up or poking through the ground. Wait too long, and the thin tines are more likely to get tangled up with new foliage or shred it.
| 3 of 4
Fluff up ground covers
Perennials with long, trailing stems, like this variegated creeping speedwell (Veronica prostrata), tend to get packed down over the winter. Use this simple technique and you can see faster new growth in spring. Here’s how: Wiggle the tines of the rake, points up, under the mat of stems and “fluff” them a little. The key is to keep it gentle — you don’t want to pull stems loose from their roots, just lift them clear of the mud and debris. If you need to remove dead leaves that collected on top of the plant, rake them out gently with your fingers once you’ve loosened everything up.
| 4 of 4
Freshen old mulch
Save yourself time and money: You may not need to add mulch to make the garden look better every spring. Sometimes all you need to do is grab a spring rake and bounce it across matted-down mulch. This will stir it up, exposing fresh-looking material.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4