Tips to help you get ready for spring gardening

Q: I have a couple of bare spots on my lawn, and a friend said I should seed them before spring so that the grass will begin re-growing right away. What do you recommend? — John in Atlanta

A: Since you live in an area with relatively warm winters, pre-seeding the bare spots may be all right. In places where the ground typically freezes, however, pre-seeding should be done in late fall, after the first hard frost but before the ground is completely frozen.

•Another method is to wait until the start of the growing season and then rake the bare spots with a thatching rake to turn the soil somewhat. Wet the bare spots down (if the soil’s not damp from spring rains) and seed them.

•For those who live in an area of the country where spring won’t arrive for several weeks or more, don’t lose heart on the gardening front. The new seed catalogs are out, and it’s a good time to put together a plan for this year’s garden. Decide what you’d like to grow, sketch out a design of what plants will go where, and create a timeline and schedule.

•Purchase new or replacement tools, and sharpen and weatherproof them. Brush up on your knowledge of plant nutrients and pest-control technology. Organize your gardening worktable and get the seed-sprouting trays ready to go. Even if nothing is growing right now, there’s plenty of prep work to be done.