These are the activities you can work on for your yard and garden in January.

Garden planning

• set up a gardening calendar with entries for when to start transplants, direct seeding, and succession planting, if you already have one, adjust dates according to your gardening notes from the previous season
• start a gardening journal
• find your last frost free date to determine planting dates
• research varieties to grow based on use, maturity dates and disease resistence
• check out the lineup of gardening classes on Gardening at USask and register for the classes that interest you
• if you use a large quantity of seeds or are looking for specific varieties, order seeds online

Growing indoors

• start a fresh batch of microgreens
• start new lettuce seeds

Composting

• contact your municipality's waste department to learn how you can recycle fresh Christmas trees and greenery into mulch
• find a local farm with sheep, pigs or poultry to donate fresh Christmas trees and greenery to when you are finished with it

Healthy yard

• feed winter birds black soil sunflower seeds
• start a fresh batch of microgreens

These are the activities you can work on for your yard and garden in February.

Starting transplants

• check your seed supplies, clean used trays with a 10% bleach solution
• source soiless media, heating mats, grow lights and trays for starting seeds in gardening or hardware stores
• 12 weeks before your last average frost date, start celery, celeriac, onion seeds (not bulbs!), lavender, mint, rosemary, oregando, sage, and thyme
• if you grow flowers from seed, check your seed packages and plant any flowers like pansy and petunias that need 12 weeks before frost

Growing indoors

• start a fresh batch of microgreens
• start new lettuce seeds
• force spring bulbs for indoor enjoyment

These are the activities you can work on for your yard and garden in March.

Starting transplants

• start peppers 10 weeks before the last frost date
• if you plan to start just a few transplants, visit a gardening or hardware store to purchase seed packages in person

Garden planning

• check preserves and adjust growing amounts if you have too much or not enough of one type of vegetable
• check viability on old seeds that you are planning on using in the garden this year

Healthy yards

• prune fruit trees
• prune elm trees
• refrain from walking on your garden when it is wet with snow melt as it can compact the soil

These are the activities you can work on for your yard and garden in April.

Starting transplants

• start tomatoes 8 weeks before last frost date
• start cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower 6 weeks before last frost date
• start squash and melons 4 weeks before last frost date - these are sensitive to transplanting so use soil blocks or grow extras to replace any that do not survive transplanting

Garden planning

• attend seed exchanges with your local gardening groups
• purchase seeds in a gardening or hardware store for direct seeding like peas, beans and lettuce
• purchase seed potatoes from a gardening or hardware store for spring planting
• use row cover to heat up soil for early planting of cool season vegetables
• divide perennials

Garden maintenance

• top up mulch if needed

Composting

• start your compost pile, add in frozen vegetables from winter

Healthy Yards

• set up rain barrels
• set up nesting boxes for summer birds

These are the activities you can work on for your yard and garden in May.

Starting transplants

• stock up on end of the season sales for seed starting supplies
• begin hardening off transplants at the beginning of the month
• begin planting transplants into the garden when danger of frost is over

Garden planning

• direct seed cool season vegetables when soil temperatures reach 5C

Healthy yard

• set out bowls of water for bees and birds

These are the activities you can work on for your yard and garden in June.

Starting transplants

• in the far north, plant transplants once the danger of frost has passed

Garden planning

• succession plant greens (lettuce, kale, spinach)

Garden maintenance

• thin garden plants like carrots so they have room to grow properly
• remove noxious weeds and compost them before they develop seeds

Harvest

• begin harvesting and preserving haskaps, strawberries, rhubarb, herbs and garlic scapes

Composting

• add grass clippings and weeds to the compost pile

Healthy yards

• prune flowering shrubs like lilac

These are the activities you can work on for your yard and garden in July.

Garden planning

• succession plant more greens or short season crops like radish and beets

Garden maintenance

• scan your gardens for pest insects and use cultural practices to keep them in check

Harvest

• harvest strawberry runners and root them out to refresh strawberry plants
• harvest baby potatoes, beans, peas, zucchini, saskatoons and raspberries

These are the activities you can work on for your yard and garden in August.

Garden planning

• begin watching for frost warnings and harvest unripened tomatoes when danger of frost exists
• make use of season extension row covers
• plant strawberry runners
• pinch back Brussels sprouts

Harvest

• harvest and preserve apples, chokecherries, peaches, pears, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower

Indoor growing

• start tomatoes and peppers for indoor winter growing
• stock up on end of the season sales for soilless media, plant pots and garden supplies

These are the activities you can work on for your yard and garden in September.

Garden planning

• plant fall bulbs
• check out the online class line up for fall on Gardening at USask

Garden maintenance

• collect seeds from heirloom varieties and store properly
• clean and store insect netting and row covers
• clean up any fruit that fell on the ground to prevent insect breeding

Harvest

• harvest melons, squash, potatoes, carrots and garlic

Healthy yards

• water in trees for winter
• build compost pile with chopped up garden material
• collect leaves for compost and/or mulch use
• dump rain barrels and clean out irrigation equipment
• take stakes off new trees
• purchase trees and shrubs on clearance and plant them

Indoor growing

• begin dark period for poinsettias
• start greens for indoor growing

These are the activities you can work on for your yard and garden in October.

Garden planning

• record amount of preserves saved in journal and document their use

Garden maintenance

• top up mulch in your no till garden
• put down compost in your garden
• convert a traditional garden to no till
• prune fruit bearing canes from raspberries
• cover strawberry crowns with straw
• cover roses and tender perennials with mulch for winter
• care for garden tools and store them for winter
• clean and store flower pots and trays for next year's use
• remove batteries from large equipment and store indoors

Indoor growing

• start microgreens
• bring in outdoor plants but quarantine them first and check for insects

These are the activities you can work on for your yard and garden in November.

Garden planning

• research seed companies and request catalogues for next year's planning

Garden maintenance

• schedule maintenance for power tools for the garden so they are ready for spring

Harvest

• continue to check ripening tomatoes and process as they ripen
• check winter storage vegetables and ensure cold storage rooms stay in the 4C range as the outdoor temperatures fall

Composting

• recycle jack-o-lanterns in compost piles or donate to a local farm for the animals to enjoy

Indoor growing

• start microgreens
• reduce fertilizing and watering indoor house plants
• start greens for holiday meals 

These are the activities you can work on for your yard and garden in December.

Garden planning

• share preseverses for holiday gifts
• start collecting seed catalogues and take garden planning classes

Indoor growing

• continue to grow microgreens

These are tasks that can be done continuously through winter in your yard and garden.

Garden maintenance

• move clean snow onto garden areas
• clean snow off trees and shrubs to prevent snow damage

Composting

• add vegetable scraps to compost pile and top with brown material stored nearby
• freeze vegetable scraps through winter to add to your compost piles in spring

Indoor growing

• succession planting microgreens
• succession planting lettuce and other greens

These are tasks that can be done continuously through summer in your yard and garden.

Garden planning

• succession planting short season vegetables; radish, lettuce, spinach, beets, swiss chard, salad greens
• fill in a garden journal to help with planning next year's garden

Garden maintenance

• deadhead flowers for continuous blooms through summer and add to compost
• remove finished plant material and add to compost

Composting

• water compost piles so it remains as moist as a damp sponge
• gather brown materials and store near compost piles
• mix compost piles to add oxygen to the compost pile and deter rodents
• start new piles as needed throughout summer so finish compost is achieved