Spring cleaning isn’t just for the house! It’s time to start preparing for your spring cleaning of your yard. While we do in-depth spring cleanups for you, there are also many things that you can do on your own to get your yard ready for spring and summer.
First off, remove all debris. Here in the Metro Detroit area, we’re no stranger to branches littering our yards after a heavy storm. Fallen branches, scattered sticks, dead leaves, twigs and any trash that has found its way onto your yard should be removed. But before you pull out the
rake, make sure that the ground is completely dry! Raking wet grass can tear it up from the roots and leave you with bare patches. This is also a great time to start a compost pile!
Examine your equipment and clean it up. You don’t want to wait until last minute to realize that your lawn mower isn’t in functioning order or reach for a chainsaw only to realize it needs to be sharpened. Even if your mower is in great condition and you’ve had the blades sharpened, you can still replace the oil with new, swap out spark plugs and lubricate all the moving parts.
Prune away the dead and damaged branches. You’ll want to prune the summer-flowering shrubs before buds swell, but you’ll want to prune the spring bloomers after they flower. Prune the flowering perennials to around 4-5 inches and cut down the ornamental grasses to 2-3 inches. After the ground is thawed and easy to dig in, you can divide up the perennials to thin crowded beds.
Clean out the beds of dead foliage and leaves before they can smother plants and foster disease on new growth. Pull up the spent annuals and once the frost has fully passed, clean out the old mulch as well. Clean up the edges around the beds as well to get them ready for new planting and fresh mulch.
Prep the damaged lawn areas for spring seeding. Just after the frost is over is a great time to test the soil’s pH so you can get the soil ready for seeding.
This is also a great idea to plan out your landscaping and gardening plans. It’s fresh enough in your mind to remember how things will look in the winter while being able to get a great idea of what you will want to look at all spring, summer and fall!