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Prepare

Send a sample of your soil into your local county extension so that they can test it. It is the only scientific way to know what (if anything) needs to be added to your soil. Once your results come back, amend your soil as directed by your extension.

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Turn over your compost pile to help it break down faster.

Inspect shrubs and trees for winter damage. Remove dead or damaged branches.

Plant

Direct sow cool-season vegetables and flowers once you can work the soil easily. Cool Season veggies Include: Lettuces, broccoli & cauliflower, cabbages, bok choi, radishes, beets, snap peas ect.

Cover Brassica crops with floating row cover to protect from cabbage moth and flea beetle damage if these little critters have been a problem in the past.

Start to harden off cool-season seedlings that you will transplant at the end of the month. Cool season flowers include: Sweet Alyssum, Dwarf Snapdragons, Dianthus (Sweet William) Osteospermum (African Daisy), Mimulus (Monkey flower), Annual Phlox like "Popstars", Calendula, Ranunculus

Divide perennials that bloom in summer or fall. Move existing plants to new locations,if desired.

Plant perennials early for best root growth.

Plant new trees and shrubs by the end of the month.
 

Maintain

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Where the foliage of early perennials and bulb plants is poking up through the soil, remove enough of the mulch on top of them so that they can emerge unimpeded.

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Top-dress gardens with compost or well-rotted manure, and spread mulch to get a jump on weed control and conserve moisture.

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Prune spring-blooming shrubs, if desired, after they finish flowering.

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Set up stakes or cages for potentially floppy perennials, such as delphiniums, peonies, hollyhocks, and catmint before they reach one foot high.