Make your yard great again! With a spring clean up.
It's that time of year again, the snow is almost gone, the birds are chirping and the fresh smell of spring is in the air. You look outside and see the mess you never cleaned up before winter and the snow luckily covered it in a nice white blanket, until now. Guess what, this is where everything changes!
We’ll be going through all 7 steps to creating a beautiful yard that’ll keep you outdoors all summer long! To save you time we’ve put them in the same order they should be completed. Simply follow these steps and your yard will look amazing in no time!
1. Create a Yard Plan (Do not skip this!)
Time and time again we’ve been told to plan things out before we go ahead with them, not only will skipping this step cost you money but it will cost time as well. Be sure to come up with a great plan for your goals this year and make a plan to stick to them. A lawn for example can take a couple seasons to get it looking great, creating a proper plan will help you achieve your lawn goals quicker and will help get that lawn looking great in record speed. This also goes for landscaping projects and new features you want to add!
2. Cleaning Your Gutters
Let’s start things out from up top. Cleaning your gutters should be done regularly to prevent build up, help water flow properly away from the house and help prevent possible water damage. We’ve all heard of a basement flooding or water damage occurring because of water from outside, so let’s keep it away from the house with proper drainage. Doing this first allows you to simply throw the debris onto the lawn to clean up with the mower later. It also gives you a chance to inspect an important part of your house that you never see. Be sure to use a proper stable ladder or better yet clean them from below with a hose attachment, or even a shop vacuum attachment.
3. Prune Flowers, Shrubs, Plants and Trees
Pruning, trimming and shaping plants and trees helps keep them healthy, promotes new growth and keeps them looking clean and beautiful. This can be a daunting task and trees need to be trimmed at certain times of year. Be sure to check out your trees guidelines before trimming and consider hiring a professional to get the hard to reach areas. You’ll want to inspect plants for winter damage especially junipers which are prone to salt damage from roads that aren’t even near the plant.
4. Clean up Those Garden Beds
If it’s warm enough, now would be a great time to visit your local garden center to add new plants to your yard. Annual plants look great but need to be replaced every year. Perennials designated for your zone are a great way to save time and money when they keep coming back, more beautiful each year. Next, edging garden beds is a great way to spruce up your yard and keep everything clean. Be sure to add this into your plan. You might want to consider a plastic or concrete edging to reduce maintenance, going with a higher quality edging will ensure a longer lasting edging. Adding weed barrier to planted garden beds is a great way to keep weeds at bay, I can’t stress enough how important buying high quality weed barrier is. Again, the cheaper ones don’t work well, weeds grow through and they deteriorate after even a year. No, double layering doesn’t work well enough. You get what you pay for. Finally, finish them off with a mulch or rock application. This bring