Once the snow melts and the ground thaws, it’s time to give your landscaping a good refresh before summer arrives. The warmth and rain brought by spring give you a perfect opportunity to clean up yard debris, do some tree pruning and plant your new perennials. This spring lawn maintenance checklist will help you get started.
When to Start Landscaping in the Spring
While some gardeners head outside as soon as the first official day of spring, others wait until the weather is a bit nicer. Generally, the best time to start your spring landscaping is as soon as temperatures begin to consistently stay above freezing.
Consider starting with lawn care tasks that don’t require the ground to be thawed completely, and then work your way up to gardening. This way, you can still spruce up your landscaping without dealing with frozen or soggy soil.
7 Things to Do for Lawn Care in the Spring
Start prepping your landscaping for the warm weather with the tips below.
1. Clean up Your Lawn and Garden
From the fall through the winter, different types of debris can end up in your yard — that includes twigs, dead leaves and even tree branches. A spring cleanup of your landscaping is usually necessary for proper growth as the weather warms up. Too much leftover winter debris can smother the soil, hindering sunlight and air.
Put on a pair of gardening gloves before you head outside to protect yourself from cuts and scrapes. Then, clear away all the debris you find. If you spot a large dead or damaged tree branch, you may want to have a professional take a look. Early spring is also a great time to clean up any protective winter mulch around your perennials.
2. Prune Trees and Shrubs
If you didn’t have a chance to prune your trees and shrubs in the winter, you’ll want to do it now. By dormant pruning in spring, you can remove any dead foliage and improve your plants’ shape, setting them up for a successful growing season over the summer. Use a pair of pruners to trim back any diseased or overgrown areas.
Avoid over-pruning your shrubs to keep them healthy and strong. You should also keep in mind that some spring-blooming shrubs should be pruned after flowering, like lilacs and forsythia.
3. Check Your Hardscaping and Irrigation
Try not to overlook the other components of your yard as you spruce up your landscaping. In freezing temperatures, water can collect, freeze and expand, leading to cracks in stone and other hardscaping materials. Check any stone pathways, edging and other stonework you have on your property. If you notice damage, tackle it as part of your spring cleanup.
Twice a year, you’ll want to service your irrigation system — once before winterizing it, and once at the beginning of spring. Have a professional inspect your setup for potential leaks or damage to confirm everything is in working order. If they spot an issue, you can have it fixed in time for the growing season.
4. Do a Soil Test
Aside from your plants and trees, your lawn requires special attention post-winter to keep the grass healthy. Before you fertilize, complete some spring lawn care by doing a soil test to find the pH level of the soil. Either home or professional testing can provide reliable results. A neutral pH of 7 is ideal for grass, so any pH under or over 7 should be addressed before fertilization.
5. Prepare Planting Beds
If you have existing planting beds with plants, prepare them for the growing season with compost or another type of fertilizer. As you’re working on your soil, take a moment to remove any weeds and address potential weed growth. Since weed seeds can lie dormant over winter, they’ll germinate as the weather warms up. Applying a preemergent herbicide can stop their growth.
When you’re done, you can open up any new planting beds you want to add to your garden. Start by smothering any grass you want to convert to garden space. Then, use a tiller to break new ground and build out your plot. Otherwise, you may want to build raised beds near your existing garden or in another spot in your yard.
No matter your approach, taking the time now to prepare your planting beds can make for a more seamless growing season come summer.
6. Add Mulch
A new layer of mulch can instantly freshen up your garden. Many people put down new mulch in the fall and spring, but you can also mulch other times of the year if needed. The spring in particular is ideal because mulch will help your soil retain moisture better, and it will make it harder for weeds to grow. Just avoid adding mulch when the ground is still too cold, as it can prevent the ground from warming up.
After removing the old protective mulch layer around your perennials, trees and shrubs, put down a new, even spread. Don’t put the mulch too close to your plants or use too thick a layer of mulch, as you might accidentally cut off the soil’s oxygen. Consider waiting until after a light rainfall to mulch so you can lock in the moisture.
7. Plant New Vegetables, Perennials, Trees and Shrubs
The best time to add new plants to your garden depends on the species. In early spring, plant cool-season vegetables right after the ground has thawed. When early summer arrives, you’ll have your first crop to harvest. The beginning of spring is also a great time to plant new perennials, trees and shrubs. Get a head start so your new additions have plenty of time to grow new roots before the weather really warms up.
Here are some cool-season plant ideas to help you get started:
- Vegetables: Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, lettuce
- Perennials: Asters, black-eyed Susans, daylilies, hostas, peonies
- Trees: American larch, cottonwood, ginkgo, heritage river birch, Juneberry
- Shrubs: Azaleas, forsythia, lilacs, Northern Pearls pearlbush, rhododendrons
Choose Green & Black to Keep up With Your Landscaping Year-Round
When spring arrives, it’s the perfect time to spruce up your landscaping for an enjoyable season ahead. However, keeping up with your yard year-round is also important. Through summer, fall and winter, you want to stay on top of landscaping maintenance to make sure your lawn stays healthy and looks beautiful.
Green & Black LLC is your local property maintenance provider, offering spring and fall cleanup services, lawn fertilization, irrigation system maintenance and more. For years, our experienced team has served the South Metro area of Minnesota, working with businesses and homeowners to provide year-round grounds maintenance. Let us professionally maintain your property through every season.
Learn more about our work by taking a look at our portfolio. Get started today when you request a free quote!