To help your plants and shrubs prepare for new growth, clean up any remaining debris from the winter months. You can also choose to apply an organic or traditional “pre-emergent” herbicide. The best time to apply a pre-emergent product is when the temperature in the top inch of the soil has been 55 degrees F for five consecutive days (often in March and April). Once the soil temperature reaches 55 degrees, annual weed seeds begin to germinate.
Once you can see weeds in your lawn, a pre-emerging herbicide won't be effective. Also, consider using a lawnmower that returns grass clippings to the soil. This saves you time and energy, while improving the condition of your lawn. Because grass clippings contain up to 90 percent water, the clippings dry out very quickly.
It's almost as if the grass clippings are disappearing. In addition, this returns 25 percent of the nutrients to the soil, a fantastic fertilizer. A lawn also has compact soil, especially if people walk on it. If you see moss stains or signs of deterioration, we recommend aerating the grass; this allows water and air to reach the root area faster, resulting in new growth and greater root development.
However, this is usually best done in the fall. Plan to rent a lawn aerator at your local home improvement store. If you aerate in spring, it's important to aerate the core before the soil temperature reaches about 55 degrees F. As it heats up, you're simply leaving room and attracting aggressive marijuana seeds to find a home.
I never considered the fact that leaving leaves alone in the beds can act as mulch. My wife wants to install 2 new flower beds in our backyard so that spring brings life to our patio. We'll have to hire a landscape contractor to dig up the areas. Prune flowering perennials to a height of 4 to 5 inches and ornamental grasses to 2 to 3 inches to allow new shoots to sprout.
When the soil has thawed, dig up perennial plants, such as daylilies and hostas, to thin out overcrowded beds; divide them, leaving at least three stems per group, and transplant them to fill in sparse areas. Trim winter-damaged rosesticks 1 inch below the blackened area. For climbers, keep the green reeds younger and remove the older woody ones; paint them by folding the reeds horizontally and tilting the buds downwards. Use jute twine or soft velcro fasteners to keep the canes in place.
Add 5-10-10 fertilizer around the bulbs as soon as they bloom to maximize flowering time and fuel next season's growth. Use pins to hold loose drip irrigation lines and a square-headed shovel to give the beds a clean edge and prevent grass from growing in them. Pour harvested leaves, cuttings, used foliage and mulch from last season into your compost pile, or create a simple pen by joining sections of a wire fence (available in house centers) into a 3 by 3 by 3 foot bucket like the one above. Remove severely rotten or damaged pegs, boards, or lattices, then clean the wooden structures with a mixture of 2 gallons of water, 2 quarts of bleach and 1 cup of liquid soap; let dry.
Patch rotten sections with wood epoxy; install new wood as needed. Fallen leaves and weeds are the perfect place for pests to settle during the winter. Clean flower beds to keep creatures at bay. Pay special attention to rose beds, as their foliage can cause illness during the winter.
1 Break up the soil to prevent water from accumulating and ensure that nutrients reach the roots during the winter, 2 A garden fork will work for small patios, but larger patios may require an aerator to walk around behind, which should be available to rent for a reasonable price. Bring your garden into winter with the nutrients it needs to survive a long, cold sleep. Add a high-phosphorous fall lawn fertilizer to encourage root growth and enjoy a lush, green lawn in spring. 3.Mulch is a great way to rejuvenate a garden bed.
Not only does it make the garden look clean and tidy, it also preserves soil moisture and keeps weeds at bay. However, the old mulch must first be removed before placing the new material. If you place the new mulch on top of the old one, you'll put the health of your plants at risk. Rotting can occur underneath all of those layers, and the soil could be hungry for nutrients.
Grab a shovel and a rake, and remove the old mulch first. Prune shrubs: Early spring is a good time to prune. Causes new growth and helps prevent disease problems. But don't prune the shrubs that bloom early yet.
Eliminate winter mulch and other types of protection: Once the temperature starts to rise, you can remove any winter mulch you added on your sensitive plants last fall. Eliminate dead growth from perennials: Prune or remove dead leaves from perennials, such as hostas, daylilies, ornamental grasses, echinaceae and sedums. Once the deck is clean and dry, add a waterproof dye to protect the wood from moisture damage during the winter. I also have a great to-do list for cleaning gardens in spring, but it's exciting to be back in the dirt after all the snow.
I still want to start a backyard garden every spring, but then I see a cleaning list like that and wonder if I could organize myself enough to do it. Rather than simply attacking winter clutter, first read my guide that explains not only why, but also when to start and how to properly and productively clean a spring garden. Like any task that involves cleaning interiors, cleaning the outside can be an important task, especially when you have a lot of garden beds like me. Make sure that when you clean your garden, you take the time to define the hard edges, as this will make your property look much better.
But tarps are one of the best investments a homeowner can make when it comes to simplifying the cleaning of their garden. Make sure your outdoor space is ready for all the action with this simple spring patio cleaning checklist. We've grouped the eight most important garden cleaning tasks to perform each year, listed in order of seasons starting with spring. Even if you cleaned some leaves in the fall, there are many trees (such as oak trees) that lose leaves (and broken or fallen branches) during the winter and well into spring.
It's not so much about a task being difficult, but about the number of yard cleaning tasks needed to properly maintain a landscape, which can be overwhelming. . .
Leave Message