5 Ways To Encourage A Gorgeous Yard This Year
Spring is right around the corner, which means it's time to get your landscaping prepped for a successful and beautiful warm season. The following are a few tasks that you can do at the beginning of the outdoor season to encourage a healthy lawn and landscape.
1. Remove Debris
Debris tends to build up on the landscaping over winter. The last of the autumn leaves may have been waiting for you beneath the snow, along with other debris such as blown-in items and twigs. A thorough raking will remove the surface debris. It may also be time to have the lawn raked with a dethatcher, which removes some of the organic material, like dead grass blades, that builds up and creates a barrier on the soil surface.
2. Open the Soil
The soil in the landscaping also tends to become compacted over time, which makes it hard for roots to penetrate and for water or nutrients to soak in. Compacted soil can lead to thin lawn areas and spots more prone to weeds. Schedule lawn aeration in spring to open up the soil so that compaction won't be a problem to battle all summer.
3. Treat Proactively
The best time to prevent weeds in the lawn is in late winter or early spring before they germinate. Apply a pre-emergent herbicide before the weeds sprout so that you can get rid of most of them before they appear. This is also a good time to apply the first fertilizer application to encourage healthy plant growth right from the beginning of the season.
4. Tidy the Beds
Your landscaping is more than just your lawn. Take the time to cut back any dead stems and leaves that remain in the garden and dispose of all debris. Pull mulch back from any plants that were covered for winter protection. Spring is also the time to add fresh mulch to rejuvenate tired beds before planting a new splash of colorful flowers.
5. Attend to the Details
There are usually a few details that need attention after winter. Shrubs and trees may have winter-damaged branches to prune out, for example. Border edging may require maintenance as well, especially if frost heave lifted any up. Spring is also the time to edge the lawn so that the edges look nice and are less prone to weed incursion.
Contact a landscaping maintenance service if you need more help with your lawn this year.