Spring is here and with it comes spring cleaning. Spring cleaning isn’t just for the inside of your home, though. Your landscape can also use some sprucing up in the spring. Your plants are starting to awaken from their winter slumber and you need to prepare them for the growing season ahead.

The Plants
Add new plants to your landscape in the spring. Make sure, however, that you are past the last frost date in your area before installing new plants.

When selecting plants, consider the balance of evergreen and deciduous plants and color
distribution through the seasons. You can have color in all four seasons by choosing plants
with varying flower times, showy fruits, and different leaf colors, including fall color and
variegation. Research plant choices to confirm they are hardy in your area according to
the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map and tolerant of your site conditions (sun or shade,
wet or dry, mature size).

Existing plants in the landscape may also need maintenance. Light pruning or cutting back
can be done to woody plants. Heavy pruning should be reserved for after plants flower or
when they are dormant during the winter months. Slow release fertilizers can be applied to
plants and, as the temperatures warm, they will slowly break down and feed the plants over
several months.

The Beds
Remove winter weeds, making sure that you get the roots, too. Perennial weeds can return
from roots left in the soil. A two- to three-inch coat of mulch (shredded hardwood, pine
bark, pine straw, peat moss) should be added to flower beds to smother any spring weed
seeds that were dispersed during the warm season.

Mulch can also maintain plant root temperatures and moist soil conditions. If mulch was
applied in the fall, do not add another coat. Simply turn over the mulch with a rake to
renew the color and break up any compaction. A pre-emergent herbicide or weed killer
can be applied to prevent spring and summer weed problems. These herbicides come in
granular forms that are easily applied to your beds.

The Lawn
Remove fallen leaves that have blanketed your lawn during the winter months. They will block much-needed sunlight from the grass plants. If you have any bare spots, now is the time to throw down some seed or patch with sod. Sod is a quick and easy fix. It comes in slabs of actively growing grass in soil that can be rolled out like natural green carpeting. Whether you use sod or seed, maintain constant moisture on the area so that it can become well established before the summer heat.