If the weather is still wintry in your area, you can enjoy armchair or couch potato gardening with colorful catalogs to design, plot and plan your garden.  If you're enjoing a mild winter, you can enjoy cool, sunny days for outdoor gardening chores.

Tips to get your garden ready and set to grow:

~ Design your garden on paper first.  Consider shaded and sunny areas and match your plants to their light requirments.

~ Make a plant list to fit the garden area.  Know your hardiness zone for best results.  We also recommend buying from local nurseries for healthy stock.

~ Consider perennials and native plants for long-term landscaping.

~ When weather permits, stake your claim.  We recommend laying down sheets of black plastic or newspapers to smother weeds and grass.  Be sure to anchor the plastic or paper to avoid it blowing in the wind.

~ Have your soil tested. Take a 4-inch deep sample from 8 to 10 areas in your garden.  Mix the soil for the test.  Most extension offices provide bags for the samples and the test for a small fee.  The test results will show recommended amendments to improve your soil and your production.

~ Now is the time to plant a great variety of cool weather crops, such as potatoes, broccoli, cabbage,  cauliflower, spinach and greens.  Try our tips for an easy and tasty salad garden.

~ Plant bare root roses and fruit trees.

~ Prune existing roses and fruit trees.

~ Know the last frost date for your region to determine when to set out warm season plants.

~Start seeds for warm season plants like tomatoes, peppers, squash and cucumbers.  Try our easy newspaper seed pots.

~ Pot canna corms for early bloom.

~ Plant pansies.

Meanwhile, until spring arrives, feed the birds, browse the catalogs and enjoy your houseplants!