Spring cleaning isn’t limited to your home’s interior. Your yard and garden deserve attention, too.
Spring cleaning prevents pests, weeds, and diseases from populating your garden. It also provides a clean slate for new plants to grow and prepares your property for summer vacation.
A proper outdoor cleanup can get overwhelming for busy homeowners. Same with landscaping, make sure to take your time, inhale the spring breeze, and enjoy the outdoors. Here are practical tips to help you get started.
Declutter your lawn
As soon as winter ends, assess your lawn for signs of wear and tear. Damages to grass are often caused by heavy traffic and pet waste. One way to restore its health is to sprinkle soil over the area mixed with fertilizer and grass seed.
Get rid of debris including twigs and fallen branches. Raking over wet ground can damage roots and cause bare and inconsistent patches. You can then use the dried leaves and green waste to start a compost pile.
Trim shrubs, trees, and perennials
Clipping away dead, dying, or problematic branches gives your plants space to breathe and grow. Cut branches that are starting to block walkways or high-traffic areas to prevent accidents and make your backyard cleaner. Removing excessive branches also encourages air and sunlight to reach the center of shrubs and trees.
Woody perennials like lavender, atermisia, and caryopteris require pruning each spring as they only grow on new branches. The perfect time for trimming is once they start opening buds on their lower stems.
Some plants like deciduous trees retain their leaves all winter. Spring is the best time to eliminate damaged foliage and encourage new growth. Similarly, inspect your shrubs for dead spots and ensure buds have wintered over.
Most evergreens require minimal trimming, although spring is a prime time to fertilize them. But if your soil is rich in nutrients, you might only need to nourish your evergreens about every other year.
Before you start trimming, take note of your plants’ blooming calendars. This will prevent you from accidentally pruning off this year’s flowers.
Care for your flowerbeds
Re-edge the borders of your beds to create clear delineations between your lawn and landscape. Having well-defined divisions can make weeding or trimming so much easier and prevent your garden from looking crowded. Clean edges also give your landscape a better visual appeal.
Once you have defined lines, you can properly get rid of leftover leaves, pinecones, needles, and acorns to give your flowers ample space to grow.
Perennials including hellebores, candytufts, and hostas need to be dug up and split into multiple groupings. This way, their roots have more space to grow and absorb nutrients. Cut back fall-blooming ornamental grasses left through the winter before new growth appears and blends with the dead grass.
Spring is a great time to plant annuals and bring endless color to your yard. The easiest seeds to grow include pansy, snapdragon, sunflower, and morning glory. Thoroughly shovel out last year’s mulch to make way for a new layer. This should be added as soon as you’re done with spring planting.
Spring cleaning not only improves your outdoor space, but also provides your entire family with clean air and stunning surroundings. Remember, a well-maintaned garden is a healthy and beautiful garden.
