You may think we are jumping the gun a bit talking about spring cleaning in February, but we’re not. If you are serious about getting your lawn and flower beds off to a great start this spring, you need to do some planning. What better time to plan than when the ground is still frozen and winter has put all your plants to sleep?
At the Parke Company, Nashville’s leading source of landscaping services, we don’t do much in the way of lawn maintenance in the winter. What we do is work on maintaining our equipment and plan landscapes for clients in the spring. Brainstorming before you actually tackle a spring cleaning will make the project go smoother and save you some cash as well.
5 Tips on How to Do a Nashville Lawn Spring Cleaning
So let’s take a look at this project with an eye towards what you are going to do and when.
- Get inspired. It may be a gloomy day outside, but you need to be thinking about how you want your lawn looking when the warmer days of spring arrive. What shrubs, flowers, or landscape features do you want to add and where? Are you planting perennials or annuals or both? When? For inspiration, you can turn to magazines, scour the internet, or simply walk down the aisles of your favorite home improvement store. Write down what you are going to add, where (sketch a map), and when.
- Visualize the end product. Your landscape should complement or contrast with your existing exterior colors and themes. Keep the color and architectural style of your home in mind when you are picking out blooming shrubs and flowers. When thinking about the placement of new shrubs, make sure you are not crowding walkways. Also, is that shrub a shrub or a small tree? Most plants will come with a tag that describes mature heights. You don’t want to block windows.
- Ready for some exercise? When the smell of mud is in the air, it’s time for lawn maintenance. Grab some leaf bags, heavy gloves, scissors, a pooper scooper, and your trusty leaf rake and dive in. Scissors are often more efficient in cutting stalks from perennials than pruners. Your rake is your main tool. A good thorough raking will collect all the debris, trash, and feces that have accumulated over the winter. A solid raking will also reduce thatch. This up close and personal time with your lawn will also allow you to spot lawn problems that may have cropped up over the winter months.
- Stake out your plan. Use the sketch you made and place stakes to plot out the areas where you will be planting new additions. With stakes in the ground, you’ll be able to better determine the number and placement of plants that you will actually need.
- The heavy lifting. Now the real work begins. You’ll want to prepare garden beds by breaking up the soil and adding mulch. If you are creating a new bed, you may want to consider using garden fabric to create a barrier designed to minimize weeds. If you are a believer in chemical fertilizers, apply a weed and feed solution that includes a pre-emergent weed killer.
Give Us a Call
Your next step might be a call to us. Rather than doing the digging and planting, give the tree experts a call and we will be happy to get it done for you. Either way, you’ll be off to a great start for spring 2018.