Utilize the longer springtime days by working in your yard! When summer time arrives, you’ll get off to a good start if you complete these tasks now.

Keep raking

The first thing you should do to take care of your yard is to rake. A good raking in the spring will get rid of the dead grass that really can pile up and turn into thatch. As you rake, check your lawn for areas where snow mold has caused the grass to mat down. Get rid of the broken grass to make it easier and more even for the new grass to grow in the spring.

Remove trash

Picking up leaves, rocks, twigs, and branches is another important part of taking care of your yard. This will make your garden look better and help grass. Cleaning up the mess also makes it easier to see how bad the winter was. If winter is coming, you need to take care of these gardening tasks right away.

Get Rid of the Dead Annuals

The next thing on your spring yard maintenance list is to get rid of the annual plants from last year. Those dead annuals ought to be pretty easy to pull up by hand. This will make room for fresh plants and give your yard a healthier look. Also, it will help break up the soil, making it easier for air, water, and nutrients to move through.

Cutting Shrubs

If you were protecting your bushes with shrub shelters, it’s time to take them down and see what needs to also be pruned. You might also need to cut back some living branches to improve the form of your shrub.

Clean up your planter beds

Another important spring yard upkeep task is to take care of your plant beds. You should start by clearing away any winter debris, pulling out any weeds, and gently taking back the mulch to let the sun dry and hot the soil, which helps plants grow in the spring. Also, turn the soil in ones planting beds to help new plants grow. Just pick up a handful of soil, squeeze it, and drop it on the ground to make sure it’s ready to be turned. If the soil breaks apart, you should be fine. If not, it’s still too wet, so don’t touch it.

Repopulate

If you don’t get snow where you live, you won’t have to deal with snow mold as part of your spring yard work. Still, it doesn’t matter where you live, tasks such as fertilizing are important. Give your lawn the same nutrients it needs to grow well and turn a beautiful shade of green. Spring and fall are the best times to feed grass.

Make sure to measure the PH of your soil. You can accomplish this by taking 2 spoonfuls of 1 cup of soil from various locations in your garden and placing them in different containers. Add 1/2 cup of vinegar to the soil after that. If it fizzes, the soil is alkaline and has a pH of 7 to 8. If it doesn’t fizz, fill the other container with distilled water until two teaspoons of soil seem to be muddy. Add 1/2 cup baking soda next. If it fizzes, the soil is likely acidic and has a pH between 5 and 6. If there is no fizzing at all, the pH is 7 and it is neutral. After that, pick a fertilizer that balances out all the acidity and alkalinity of one’s yard.

Plant Perennial Flower Borders, Trees, and Shrubs

Early spring is a good time to plant trees, shrubs, and flower borders with hardy perennials. Before planting plantings and tender perennials, you should wait till the last freeze – thaw date has passed. This will happen between the end of January and the end of February in warmer places like southern California and Florida. In Dakota and Maine, where it is colder, this will happen in the month of May. And the last frost will happen between both the end of the month and the end of April in places like Kansas and Pennsylvania, which have moderate climates.

Hardscaping Pressure Cleaning

In the spring, you need to clean up your patio, walkways, deck, walls, and any other structures throughout your yard. So, use a pressure washer to clean mossy patios, dirty decks, and other hard surfaces that get dirty during the winter. For wooden structures, make sure to use a pressure washer with a PSI of less than 1,200.

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