Weather For Gardening And Yard Work? Not So Fast!

INVER GROVE HEIGHTS, Minn. (WCCO) -- Nice sunny spring days like this make you want to get in the garden. On Wednesday, there were plenty of people doing lawn work and hitting garden centers. But experts say you might want to wait before you pull out your gardening tools.

It wasn't that long ago that Minnesotans were giving their snow shovels a workout. Now people are thinking spring.

"Awwh, it's just so great being outside," said Mary Ann Bull.

She was busy buying things to spruce up for spring.

"I'm just changing over my winter décor to spring and I've been here for a couple of hours browsing and strategizing all the things I want. Oh, I'm definitely getting pansies," said Bull.

You can plant pansies, but you have to take extra care with them.

"They can handle light frost, but it's still good to cover them at the end of the day," said Sonja Anderson with Gertens.

There were also a lot of people raking away winter's mess. Preston Curry Jr. was wasting no time getting his yard in shape.

"As soon as the sun is shining and the snow starts melting, you know what that means, this is basically when got to do it," he said.

But experts say now is not the time to mess with your lawn -- it's just too cold and soggy.

"Soil temperatures right now in the cities is only about 35 degrees and grass germinates at a soil temperature of 50," said Anderson.

"You've got to let your lawn dry out, that's very important. You don't want to be tromping on the lawn until the soil is dried out a little bit, it ruins soil structure so it's best to just leave it alone until it dries out," she added.

If you're looking for lawn and turf tips, Gertens in Inver Grove Heights, has free classes every Saturday, starting at 10 a.m.

And click here to check out the Good Life For Less Blog for a list of some local garden centers who have some hot spring deals.

Sonya Goins, Producer
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