I can’t tell you how excited I am for Spring to almost be here. Not only am I done with this cold weather, but Spring is a great time to feel productive. One of the things most people do, especially if you garden is get their yards ready for Spring. Even if you don’t plan on doing any large gardening projects this year, it is still important for the upkeep of your yard that you do a little Spring cleaning on it. Doing it now, before things really start to grow and flourish will be easiest.
How To Get Your Yard Ready For Spring
Clear away any garbage. Winter not only wreaks havoc on your yard, but tends to blow around and bury street garbage in it. Go around and pick up any pieces of trash you find before starting.
Weed things out. You should weed as early as possible in the Spring to avoid having them germinate and spread. This should be the very first thing you do before any raking so you can get rid of them before they create a problem you will be dealing with all summer.
Rake problem areas. After weeding, you should rake up any areas that have accumulated debris from 0vergrowth or just neglect all season. If you rake, you are allowing these areas to get proper light so when you begin to plant, you will have a good area to start with.
Trim trees, shrubs and bushes. Winter has probably caused a lot of damage to your trees and small shrubbery. Reshape hedges, cut down branches that are in danger of falling on power lines and trim back bushes that have over-grown areas.
Clean up borders. If you have borders between lawn and garden areas, this is a good time to check for broken border areas, overgrown spots and anything else than may keep your border from looking it’s best as things start to grown in.
Start a compost if you don’t already have one. You can start one with a simple bin that has holes for aerating and use your lawn and yard waste as a starting point.
Get ready to seed. While fall is a great time to seed as the frost kills off many types of weeds, you can seed in the spring if you have areas of your lawn that are severely damaged by high traffic, pets and from bald spots due to something sitting on the lawn. move out anything that might be in the way and get some fertilizer or use compost.
Put away any winter equipment as long as the snow or bad weather is not in the forecast any more. Find a place for sleds, skis and snowboards as well.
Finally, straighten up any areas that are walkways such as stones that are paths, sidewalks, driveways and so on. Make sure to weed these areas as well as line them up with a trimmer. Also, pay attention to any lawn furniture that needs cleaning and do spot checks as you are setting it out.
Prep soil for vegetable gardens and flower beds. Turn over the soil, remove any dead plants, test the soil and add organic fertilizers as necessary.
What do you plan on doing with your yard this year? Are you planning any big landscaping projects? I would love to hear about them in the comments!
Jen Maure says
These are all great tips! I just started gardening last year and had so much fun, I built an additional raised bed to use for lettuce, spinach and kale. Come on warmer weather!