Home Tip Tuesday: Spring Yard Maintenance Tips

Get your yard in good shape for the season.

As spring weather warms and days grow longer, homeowners want to take advantage of their yards and garden. A weekend spent on spring maintenance tasks can reduce time spent landscaping in the later spring and summer. Add these tasks to your to-do list now to get your yard in good shape for the spring and summer ahead. 

Spring Yard Maintenance Checklist

Level your lawn - Small hills in the yard get hammered by your lawnmower, while low valleys can have drainage problems. Take time in spring to level your lawn and prevent such landscaping challenges. 

Reseed the grass - When grass begins to grow again, check it out. If bare spots appear, reseed with grass seed that's designed for your climate and your level of sun or shade exposure. To help your grass get off to a strong start, keep it moist and fertilize regularly. 

Mowing discourages pests.

Mow the lawn - Mow the lawn periodically to discourage pests and keep your yard looking tidy. 

Prune shrubs and trees - After your spring-flowering shrubs (such as forsythia and lilac) flower, prune them back so they do not get out of control. Compost yard waste clippings or set them out for municipal collection. Early spring is also a great time to prune non-flowering shrubs and trees. Before these leaf out, you can get a good view of the branch structure and shape as you wish. Cutting shrubs back is the best way to keep them from sprawling and maintain plant health. 

Plant summer flowering bulbs - Summer flowering bulbs, like canna, are best planted in the spring. If you like to add a splash of color to garden beds using bulbs, plant your summer flowering bulbs now. 

Plant annual flowers - Annual flowers and herbs are ideal for window boxes, kitchen gardens, and cheery pots on the patio. Pick up annuals from a local garden center and plant them in spring to give your home curb appeal. 

Mulch helps plants thrive and reduces amount of watering.

Mulch garden beds - To help plants thrive while reducing the amount of watering you'll do in the summer months, make sure that garden beds are mulched. Aim for at least 2 inches of mulch on garden beds to keep moisture in the soil and promote plant health. 

Inspect landscaping equipment and gardening supplies - As you work through these tasks, inspect landscaping equipment including string trimmers, lawnmowers, shovels, sprinklers, hand tools, and garden gloves. Repair or replace equipment that is not in good working order to make summer landscaping easy. 

Break up these tasks and tackle one a day, or take a full weekend to get your lawn and garden in shape. For more home and garden design tips please visit homechanneltv.com.