Snowy Winter Has Gardeners Digging This Spring

By Phran Novelli

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - OK, dig in. Even if you hated every snowflake that fell this winter, if you want to plant anything this spring, you'll love what all that snow left behind.

As it finally, slowly melted into the soil, (followed by spring rains) all that moisture made the soil around here exceptionally easy to dig. As we get stretches of hot days, it'll start to dry out. Then again, if we get a string of storms the soil can become too wet, and you don't want to even walk in your garden much less dig when it's muddy. Because it's not just messy for you, it's bad for plants as your footsteps smoosh the air out of soggy soil robbing roots of oxygen they need to grow.

But, when the soil's just moist enough to be workable - that you can drop a shovel into it without struggling - it's time to dig. Get out there while it's easy to cut clean edges on beds, dig a new garden, remove patches of pesky weeds, or prepare a place for trees and shrubs you haven't even bought yet - because by the time you find the plants you want, it might not be so easy to dig.