Top 10 Things to Do When You're Itching to Garden but It's Too Early to Plant Seeds

1. Install a cold frame. A cold frame is essentially a miniature greenhouse, and it allows you to plant a little earlier because you can protect the seedlings during cold snaps. Purchase a kit or make a simple cold frame by setting straw bales in a square and placing old windows over the top. On a sunny day, the temperatures inside the cold frame can rise quickly, so be prepared to prop the top open for ventilation. And on very cold nights, cover the cold frame with a blanket. Plant cold-hardy lettuce and spinach in the ground in your cold frame and/or use it to harden off seedlings you've started indoors.

The crocuses will be up before you
know it. In the meantime, there's
plenty to do in the garden.

2. Add a trellis. Whether it's covered with climbing roses, morning glories, or even gourds, a plant-covered trellis is eye-catching. Build your own trellis or purchase one and install it in a sunny spot. Consider adding a trellis to a sunny porch so the plants' foliage will provide cooling shade in summer. Use a trellis to screen unsightly views or to create a private sitting area in your yard. If space is at a premium, grow vegetables on trellises, too. Pole beans and vining cucumbers are good candidates, as are indeterminate tomato varieties, which can grow to a height of six feet or more.

3. Embrace garden crafts. Build a bird feeder, bluebird house, or bat house. Make mosaic stepping stones and create a walkway to your herb garden. Paint some terra cotta pots to complement your house color. Build flower boxes for your windows. Add color to your winter garden by painting a fence, shed, or wall a bright, unexpected color. If you're so inclined, paint a mural! Make a silly statue out of clay pots. Weave a trellis or fence from willow or other supple twigs. Browse secondhand stores for inexpensive treasures. A wooden chair with a broken cane seat can be converted into a unique planter by securing a container where the seat was. Paint a mailbox, install it in your garden, and use it to keep small tools and supplies handy yet protected from the weather.

4. Sharpen tools. I know, B-O-R-I-N-G, but you'll be glad you did.

5 Prune trees and shrubs. Fruit trees and summer-flowering shrubs are best pruned in late winter, after the coldest weather has passed but before the buds break. Consult a pruning guide for details.

6. Pull winter weeds. It's never too early to start weeding perennial gardens. Just avoid walking on wet garden soil — stay on the paths. If possible, apply a thin layer of bark mulch when you're through. Come spring, when plants have sprouted and you can see where they are, you'll want to apply a thicker, more weed-suppressing layer of mulch.

7. Organize your tool shed and donate extra supplies to a youth gardening program. If you received new tools or supplies over the holidays, set the old ones aside for donating. It's easy to accumulate too many pots, seeds, trowels, and rakes. Why not let someone else make use of them?

8. Buy a tree identification book and learn to recognize trees by their bark and twigs. Not only does it make winter walks more interesting, it also helps hone your botany skills. For example, did you know that you can identify some trees in winter by the shape and size of the leaf buds?

Plants with colorful bark,
such as this red twig dogwood,
add color to your winter garden.

9. Make a list of plants with winter interest to add to your landscape this year. Plants with berries, such as holly, winterberry, and viburnum, are not only colorful, they'll also attract birds. Winter-blooming witch hazels, red twig dogwood, and hellebores are also good choices, as are early-blooming bulbs, such as scilla, snowdrops, grape hyacinth, and crocus. Consult a gardening resource to make sure the plants you choose are appropriate for your region.

10. Install a weather station. Impress your friends by knowing the barometric pressure. Keep track of rainfall so you know when to water your garden. Be prepared to say "it's not the heat, it's the humidity" by including a hygrometer. If you find yourself becoming obsessed with the weather, put that obsession to good use: There are approximately 12,000 "cooperative weather observers" in the United States who compile weather information and report it to their local National Weather Service office.

And you thought there was nothing to do in the garden yet.