Ah, springtime. The cold, dreary winter snow is melting, the birds are chirping their hearts out, and spring flowers are starting to bloom. It’s time for spring yard cleanup! This year, don’t let the unpredictable weather catch you by surprise. We decided to give you a little bit of advice to help you prepare your lawn and garden for the growing season with our spring yard cleanup checklist. Use this blog Spring Yard Cleanup Checklist: Lawncare, Gardening, and More, to help get your yard summer-ready or contact us today to do all of your dirty work! This blog post will discuss six essential categories to help your yard ready for gardening.

General Yard Cleanup

Grab some heavy-duty gloves and get going. You’ll first need to remove leaves, branches, and twigs built up over the winter before mowing the lawn. Getting leaves and trash off of grass is essential for the grass to breathe. A thorough spring cleaning prepares the ground for new mulch and yearly flowers. If you were diligent about thoroughly raking your leaves in the fall, you most likely avoided “snow mold.” However, there will always be some stray leaves to rake, and raking helps prevent thatch accumulation on lawns.

Tip: When raking the lawn, be sure to sweep up pinecones or limbs. Pinecones need to be shredded because this helps them break down more readily in a compost bin.

Trees and Shrubs Cutbacks

Remove dead and decaying branches. It’s good to prune back to living stems on both trees and shrubs. Pruning helps to get rid of branches that have been harmed by the cold, snow, and wind. However, there is a “best time” to prune living stems and branches. As a result of pruning too soon, things can go wrong with the blooming pattern.

If you have lawn care questions or need landscaping help, reach out to us for more information or schedule a free consultation.

Perennials and Grass Cutbacks

Perennials need to be cut back and divided on an as-needed basis. Regular pruning helps your yard look tidy. Additionally, pruning these plants also helps the other plants and bushes from suffocating.

Edging and Cleanup Around Plant Beds

While it may be stating the obvious, it’s time to rake out dead leaves and foliage (which may smother plants and promote illness), remove spent annuals, and fill a wheelbarrow with additional organic yard waste once the spring yard cleanup is complete. Remove any existing mulch once the danger of frost has passed to set up for a new layer when you are ready to plant in the spring. Deep edging around flower beds and tree trunks is similar to framing landscaped areas.

Shapers and spades are tools that make clear borders between your turf and flower beds. This type of edging is done before pre-emergent, and fresh mulch is applied.

Grass, bushes, and vines can be snagged and pulled from a landscaped bed. A manicured edge will keep grass and weeds from encroaching on your garden. It also makes mowing along flower bed edges much more manageable, resulting in less risk of harm.

Prep Yard for Spring Seeding

Nex up on our Spring Yard Cleanup Checklist is prepping your yard for seeding! Grass will germinate in April, but testing the soil’s pH early in the spring is brilliant since it allows you to mix the right seeding formula for our yard. To prepare for seeding that will take place in a few weeks, remove salt-damaged turf, plows, or diseases. Mulch can also make a world of difference to a tired winter yard. Spring is the best time to add a new layer of mulch.

Tip: It can help control weed germination and growth, keeping soil wetter and cooler as temperatures rise. During the summer heat, this is quite important.

Cleanup Hardscapes and Patios

Rake gravel back into walkways and patios from winter storm damage. Use a pressure washer with a low-pressure nozzle to remove slippery algae spots or leaf marks from patios and pathways. Sweep in fresh sand or stone dust to refill joints between flagstones; water the area with a hose, then repeat.

Maintaining your landscape adds to the value of your home, but it also provides a secure outside environment for everyone who visits, works, and lives on it. Do you need a hand with your spring garden? At Paradise Landscape and Hardscape, we provide expert spring cleanup services in Annapolis, MD. We can help you with various spring lawncare services and offer weekly and monthly landscaping packages. We will collaborate with you to discover methods to enhance your property and make the most excellent first impression on your clients, consumers, workers, residents, or guests.

Contact us to learn more about our commercial and residential landscaping cleanup services for spring!