The First Day of Spring and the Spring Equinox

The spring equinox and the first day of spring are not necessarily describing the same date in the gardener’s year.

There’s certainly a change in the air and in the garden as dormant plants begin to put on obvious, above ground growth. But what is the Spring Equinox and what does it mean for your garden plants? Lets look at the reasons behind the confusion of dates and the effect om gardening.

First Day of Spring and Spring Equinox – an explanation

The word “equinox” means “equal night” in Latin “aequus” meaning equal and “nox” meaning night. So at the time of both the autumn and vernal equinox one would expect the number of daylight hours to match the number of night-time hours; and it nearly does.

The spring equinox would occur on the same date every year if the earth took exactly 365 days to revolve around the sun. It doesn’t, hence the variation. The slight discrepancy is due to various astronomical reasons, including why we have a leap year every four years and the tilt of the earth on its axis. At the equinox, the exact moment the Sun crosses the equator, both the North and South poles are at a virtually equal distance from the Sun, ie no tilt.

In the Northern Hemisphere, astronomers and scientists use the vernal equinox as the start of spring. For meteorologists, spring in the northern hemisphere begins three weeks earlier, on March 1st. There is a good reason for this discrepancy and it is due to the equinox date variation. In order to create and maintain accurate records, especially for comparison and to record weather trends, the meteorologists need to keep to the same dates.

And a bit of history to explain it even more

From 1252 until 1752 in Britain, the legal new year began not on January 1st but March 25th This date, which is known as Lady Day, still is a date when many rents fall due as it forms one of the ‘quarter days’. The change from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar and the issues surrounding leap years can get a bit complicated, so we’ll skip that.

In many ways, with a predominantly agrarian society, it made sense to follow the sun and the rhythm of plant growth. The Roman year began on the Ides of March (March 15th), the Persian New Year on the spring equinox. Whilst the balance of day and night is equal, it is ready to tip over in favour of light and life. The vernal equinox is considered by many traditions and cultures to be the dawn of new life; a very agricultural and gardening perspective, you might say. One of the goddesses linked with spring, the equinox and fertility is the Saxon goddess, Eostre, after whom we have named East and Easter.

the cover of Plews Spring Garden eBook – available to download here

What does the Spring Equinox mean for your Garden Plants?

The first day of spring may be a time for gardeners to start sowing seeds and planting out cuttings, but when does the first day of spring actually occur? Well, it depends on whether we’re following the Astronomical seasons or the Meteorological seasons.

If you would like to check where east and west, north and south are in relation to your own garden, the spring equinox is a good opportunity to do so, as the sun rises due east and sets due west for all of us. It’s obviously best to check at sunrise or sunset; in London sunrise is 06.01 and sunset 18.14. Just go outside around and notice the location of the sun on the horizon in respect to familiar landmarks, or you could make a mark on your garden fence.

It is true that many plants respond to the lengthening of days of spring; it is especially true of most annual food crops. Interestingly, it is in reality the shortening of the dark nights rather than the longer days that promotes the plant hormones to encourage growth and then flowering. The process is called Photoperiodism and I’ve discussed this in more detail in the harvest festivals blog (link below).

Many of the vegetables and salad plants that we grow as catch crops are less driven by photoperiodism; radish for example are one of these ‘day neutral’ plants.

Artificial lights and controlled environments used by commercial growers to increase the growing season modifies the natural responses of plants to day length. Generally speaking, amateur gardeners do not have the resources to cultivate crops and flowers in this way. Indeed, part of the fun of gardening is to encourage nature to work with us; perhaps by extending the growing season in our garden or allotment by making use of greenhouses. Daylight lamps to force rapid seedling growth in the spring are available, but the cost usually outweighs any benefit to the home gardener only needing to raise a dozen trays of seedlings.

Recording the Equinox and Solstice in Your Garden

And for the gardeners, of whatever or no religion, why not turn to your garden, and take photographs or written notes for where sun lies in your garden at the equinox?

Making a record of which trees are in blossom, whether the daffodils are flowering, which shrubs are budding and how far on your seedlings have grown gives you a record for comparison for future years, which is helpful when it comes to planning your garden and what plants to grow in it.

This recording of nature and the effects on your garden is one of the topics we cover in Plews Year in Your Garden Course. A way to discover how your garden changes through the year and how you can get the most enjoyment from it in each season. Suitable for both novice gardeners and those who are more knowledgeable as the gardening course is bespoke to you and takes place in your own garden.

If you would like help with creating or renovating your garden as a beautiful and practical space for all seasons, do get in touch. Plews is able to offer Gardening Lessons, Garden Design and Planting Designs or a Garden Consultancy Visit to suit your needs. Please check out relevant pages on the website for more details

For further gardening tips and inspiration check out Plews Potting Shed blogs, including the selection below – and find us on Instagram and Facebook

Here’s to the spring equinox, vernal equinox or autumn equinox, depending where in the world you are. For those who are waving druidic swords at the sun as it passes over the equator – enjoy!