Hear ye! Hear ye! March 20 is the first day of spring.

So how is the home gardener supposed to prepare for such an auspicious occasion? Right now, there are plenty of chores to tackle, in preparation for the coming season. Read on for just a few of fun activity ideas to get the sap flowing for spring!

Clean your garden beds. Winter annual weeds have long since germinated. Pull them up now before they go to seed, bankrolling next season’s crop. Clean up the leaves and twig debris. Be sure to separate weeds from the leaf-twig mixture so that you compost only the combo and discard the pesky weeds. Prune your perennials, giving them a burst of energy to launch into spring growth and flowering activities.

On a rainy, chilly day when you can’t venture outside, take an inventory of your garden gear. Replace the spring that popped out of your hand clippers last autumn. Check to see if proper gardening gloves are in the drawer for the coming season. And replace the cultivator that snapped in half, when trying to use it as a shovel during the winter freeze.

Take a thorough examination of your garden hoses, to see if they have split over the cold months, when mistakenly left outside and exposed to freezing temperatures and frost. Consider if an irrigation system is right for your garden, instead of lugging the hose and buckets around from plant to plant. A showerhead water wand and water catchers of any type may be the solution for conserving that extra gallon of precious water.

Set out your seed starting supplies, to ensure you have sufficient inventory on hand before the mail order seeds begin to arrive. Check to see if the trays, heating mats, lights and peat pots are in good shape and sufficient for the amount of seed starting frenzy that is being planned.

Remember that many of our acid-loving plants enjoy a sprinkling of fertilizer in the spring. Check your toner supplies and set aside coffee grounds for hydrangeas, azaleas, camellias, rhododendrons and blueberries. Wood ash from your woodstove is a great source for potassium, blood meal for nitrogen levels and bone meal for phosphorus, all depending on what your lawn and beds relish.

Mix compost into vegetable beds, and top off your ornamental flower beds with a layer of natural mulch, to block weeds from germinating and retain moisture for the plants you’re about to raise from seed or install as seedlings. Remember not to bank mulch touching trees trucks, to avoid inviting insects to invade the precious bark. And recycle non-seedy plant debris in naturalized landscape areas, where setting conditions are appropriate.

Kristi Hendricks is a graduate of Shepherd College and West Virginia University and a Master Gardener with the Virginia Cooperative Extension. She can be reached at belowthejames@yahoo.com.