Ignoring the lawn care project might cause some irreversible harm to not only your garden but also your front yard as well as the beautiful landscape that you have spent the whole time turning into an appealing garden. There are two suitable times for doing your yard cleanup project: the first is a spring yard clean-up, and the second time will happen in autumn to prepare for winter.
Yard clean-up is a tough project requiring much time, money, and effort. Full spring cleaning projects, spring yard, in particular, include debris and leaf removal, pruning and trimming trees or shrubs, edging, mowing grass, mulching gardens, weeds control, planting flower beds, maintenance, etc. What if you invested too much into your garden with the desire for a beautiful landscape and now it’s larger than you’ve ever thought?
The good news is that there are already several landscaping companies that provide the spring cleanup service for almost all homeowners to enhance their outdoor space projects. You’d better have your lawn care and yard clean-up right after finding a company near your location to have an estimated cost based on your landscaping size. This article will figure out the spring yard cleanup checklist you should know to prepare for spring cleaning service.
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WHY DO SPRING YARD CLEAN UP?
After the hibernate time of plants during the freezing temperature, some spring yard clean-up tasks perform the sure things to do at the beginning of the year to prepare for the growing season. This task is to create enough space for your garden beds and new growth to come in the summer months. Right after the last frost comes, you should prepare all the things you need to plan for the spring cleaning job.
In case you didn’t take the lawn care project in the fall, cut and pull up spent perennials or old annuals when the temperatures are above freezing. Go ahead and remove winter-killed branches or fallen leaves out of plants and trees to give a new ground for new growth in your garden in the warmer weather.
A spring yard cleanup checklist could be divided into these general categories, in which these tasks involve both cleaning and spring planting process:
- Rake and remove debris (dead leaves, branches, foliage…) from the garden and plant beds
- Prepare garden beds
- Planting (trees and grass seed) and fertilize
- Control weeds
- Pruning trees and shrubs
- Tackle with mulch layer and perennials
Dealing with your entire house in the spring at once might be an overwhelming project, especially for a DIY project, so take this checklist one by one as you’ve planned the schedule to finish the summer preparation.
TREES AND SHRUBS
Prune Dead and Damaged Branches
Pruning back to living stems any tree or shrub branches that have been injured by frost, snow, or wind; use a handsaw for any greater than 0.5 inches in diameter. Hand pruners, rather than electric shears, are used to shape hedges, preventing a heavy outer layer of growth that inhibits sunlight and air from reaching the shrub’s center. On the right, neatens up a yew by trimming stray shoots back to an intersecting branch. Summer-flowering shrubs, such as Rose of Sharon, should be pruned before buds develop, whereas spring bloomers, such as forsythia, should be pruned after they flower.
Trim and Shape Shrubs
Because last summer was probably quite generous to your shrub and tree growth, it’s time for a “haircut.” Shrubs should be shaped and any branches should be trimmed. If you’re going to make a mess with clippings from cutting, you should be recommended to do this before raking.
In the warm weather, shrubs tend to bloom in place of old wood without pruning stalks off. If you prune them, you would even harm the flowers. So just help them in shape and let them bloom instead on new wood in the warmer weather.
PERENNIALS AND GRASS
Remove Mulch in Perennials
If you’ve put a thick layer of mulch, it will ultimately be removed away from your perennials or it may suffocate them. Once the weather has begun to warm, the best strategy is to begin monitoring to see if your perennials are bumping up. If they are, start removing the mulch when it becomes warm but replenish it when the winter weather arrives. If the change in weather returns and the perennials have grown a few inches, reapply a layer of mulch to discourage weeds and store water during the whole summer.
Cut Back and Divide Perennials if Needed
Flowering perennials should be cut with a height of 4–5 inches, and decorative grasses about a height of 2–3 inches, to adapt to changing growth. Pull out perennials like daylilies and hostas to thin congested beds; split them, leaving at least three branches per bundle, and relocate them to fill in scant spots where the soil has thawed. Winter-damaged rose canes should be pruned to 1 inch below the darkened spot.
Keep fresh green canes and eliminate older woody canes from climbers; tidy them up by twisting the canes laterally and tilting the buds down. To keep the canes in place, use fiber wire or soft Velcro closures.
Prevent Weeds and Pests
When the soil temperature hits 55 to 60 degrees F, broadleaf weed seeds to fertilize. Before this period, spray the preemergent pesticide. But it would be too inconvenient to constantly place a temperature gauge within the ground to see whether it’s ready yet. The old-timers utilize a more appropriate method, which entails keeping track of the blossoming bushes in your zone. Simply spray the preemergent herbicide between when the forsythias end budding and the lilacs start growing.
Another issue is pests, which can be best managed by taking necessary precautions. Gardens are frequently required to be rabbit-proofed. A deer fence is one solution in deer-infested areas, but it’s better to just utilize plants that will help you prevent deer come closer.
PLANTING BEDS AND FERTILIZE
The best time to plan for planting trees and shrubs is in the early spring. Therefore, prepare the areas for this project and combine them with the spring yard clean-up project. For tender perennials or annuals, you’d like to wait till the last frost comes to your area.
Clean Up the Ground
Replant heaving plants in flower beds and borders by tapering them gently around the root using your foot or replanting them with a shovel. Then, apply a powdered fertilizer customized to current crops to the surface of the soil, allowing spring rainfall to take it all to the roots.
To optimize the bloom period and fuel the next season’s development, use a 5-10-10 fertilizer around roots as soon as they bloom. To give beds a neat edge and discourage turf grass from spreading underneath them, use screws to connect loose drip lines and a rectangle shovel.
Add Fertilizer
Fertilizer is a fantastic idea to provide the nutrients your grass requires for healthy roots and a verdant look. Your fertilizer schedule project will fluctuate according to your location and the time of year. Fertilizer may also be used to get rid of weed plants when you come across them. When using chemical fertilizers, always follow the administration instructions carefully since chemical fertilizers may harm plants if used in overabundance.
The only chemical fertilizer which is truly handy is the “weed and feed” variety, which includes a preemergent pesticide to eliminate broadleaf weeds.
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FLOWER BEDS
Add more Plant Beds
Flowers require space to bloom, so it would be critical to clean flower beds of dry leaves, fallen foliage, and invasive grasses before spring arrives. To create a greater impression, choose a tiller to break the mold or create flower beds. Planting trees, shrubs, and sturdy perennial flowers in the springtime. Planting ferns and fragile perennials after the final cold season.
Tamp Down the Base
Tamp the base firmly using a tamper tool. Then, press down a 200mm layer of narrow solid. To hold the solid in place, set down a selective permeability. This is the step that creates a clear separation between the two and aids in keeping your mulch confined.
LAWN CARE IN EARLY SPRING
Rake the Lawn
Make sure you take enough care of your lawn by raking it thoroughly from fall to spring. Raking leaves in the fall projects helped you avoid the spread of “snow mold” disease, however, there are always several strayed leaves, dead foliage, or fallen leaves in March to rake all it up. Even when there is no leaf left, the raking task should be also combined in the spring cleaning project to control the build-up of thatch.
Also, make sure you have a good rake on your grass ground and the buried grass, as well as perennials, will green up right after the raking job is done!
Remove Dead Leaves from Perennials and Ornamental Grasses
Remove all fallen branches and debris on the ornamental grasses that you didn’t do in the fall. For this task, you will need scissors that will work better than pruners.
Prepare Area for Spring Planting
Early spring is the best time to fill your house garden with planting seeds. You need to have a pH test for the soil and remove all damaged areas before seeding. Wait until forsythia blooms, then spread seed with a new layer of ½-inch compost into the ground to keep seeds moist. This process will keep the seed warm and increase the germination rate.
HOW MUCH DOES SPRING YARD CLEAN-UP SERVICE COST?
Most companies charge the spring clean-up service about $100 – $300 in combined with the additional service like mowing, adding fertilizer, or so on. It’s better to mow the grass to encourage new green life and generate well before going to the harsh condition of summer. Moreover, after the strong wind from winter storms, your yard in the early spring will be filled with thatch, leaves, branches, and debris on the lawn ground which will suffocate and prevent each tree from reaching sunlight.
However, this cost might vary depending on your location and the additional service which the company has provided to your property. It might increase if you need to combine more expensive plants into your project or the work requires many hardy tools to finish some tasks, such as fence installation. Just ask the landscapers to give you the fixed bills ahead before you hire them for this excellent work.
FIND A LOCATION FOR SPRING YARD CLEAN UP SERVICE
A thorough clean-up project might be easy for almost all homeowners DIY. In case you want to hire a professional to finish all of the work for you just in a few hours without hesitation and worry, find them on the Internet which you can easily contact to get all information. They have experience and the right tools for each work of this project and prepare all the tools and materials for you.
Green Arbor Landscaping is a landscape company that provides full services of landscaping work with 35 years of experience in this field. The services include yard clean-up, landscaping hardscape construction, and maintenance. You will find all you need in just one company which will satisfy you with the skills and professional services.
Green Arbor Landscaping, which is rated as a location with great communication and responded quickly to all customers, will satisfy you with our range of services. For more information to contact us, here is what you need:
- Phone call: (206) 265-2940
- Email: info@greenarborlandscaping.com
- Site: https://greenarborlandscaping.com/
