Long and snowy winters can get quite gloomy and miserable. Post winter, each of us craves to relax in our backyards and soak in the sun.
We look forward to spending time outside watching spring flowers bloom and listening to the bird’s chirp. A lush landscape can disperse the clouds of winter and lift up our spirits.
Here, we have some amazing tips from tree services in Rochester NY for spring clean up landscaping. Follow the steps diligently and achieve your dreamy landscape.
Winter Landscape Clean Up Checklist
✅ Check for winter damage
✅ Remove refuse
✅ Pruning
✅ Aeration
✅ Handle weeds
✅ Fertilization
Check For Winter Damage
Harsh winters can have a major impact on your landscape. So, before you start with your landscape cleanup, take a look around your property. Look for any evidence caused by strong winds and heavy snow.
- Do your trees have browning and/or broken tree branches?
- Are there any brown spots in your yard?
- Was there any damage done to your plants from salt used during winter?
- Are your tree roots exposed?
- Did any local wildlife like rabbits and deer cause any damage?
This will give you a clear idea of what (and how much) needs fixing. From there, you can pick up your landscape clean up work.
Remove Refuse
The next step in the landscape clean up task is to pick up after Old Man winter. Roll up your sleeves and start hauling away the winter debris:
- Litter and pet feces
- Dead leaves, grass, pinecones, and debris on lawns
- Dead leaves on perennials
You must wear heavy work gloves for this task. This is especially needed for litter that may contain broken glass.
Next is lawn cleanup. If you raked leaves from your yard in the fall, you probably won’t have to deal with much. But inevitably, there will still be some stray leaves to rake after the winter.
While you are raking the lawn, make sure to remove pine cones, if any. You need to shred the pinecones first before placing them in a compost bin.
| Raking helps control thatch build-up in your garden |
Lastly, clean up your perennial beds for a proper landscape cleanup. Remove any dead leaves and stalks from your perennials and ornamental grass that you didn’t clean in the fall. Scissors often work better for this task to get into tight spaces.
Pruning
Trees and shrubs that survived the winter must be pruned during the landscape cleanup. Address old, dead branches or branches recently damaged by winterkill.
Dead limbs and winterkill on branches should be pruned off immediately after the winter. This is the easiest part of pruning. The key is to determine where the brown ends and green begins.
But the best time to prune off healthy branches and limbs is a tough question. Because you can go wrong with this timing. Improper pruning can result in the loss of blossoming displays from your garden forever.
Here are some easy tips on proper tree pruning time –
- Trees that bloom in spring have their buds already in place from last year’s growth. This way, they are ready to kick into action when the warm weather comes.
If you prune these branches after winter, you lose the flowers. So, wait to prune such trees until after they have finished blooming.
- Trees that bloom later in the year bloom on new growth produced in the current season. So, you can go ahead and prune such trees in late winter or early spring.
Aeration
Has the soil in your yard been beaten by foot traffic and snow over the winter? Then, you must take care of its roots during the winter landscape clean up task. This step would provide your yard with the essential nutrients it needs to grow.
The best way to strengthen your yard’s roots is by aerating. Aeration tousles the topsoil to allow better nutrient absorption.
You can do the aeration in two ways. You can either poke holes in your yard or use a plug aerator.
Handle Weeds
Your yard will eventually recover from the damage it sustained over the winter. However, leftover weeds start to pop up again during the spring. This is why your landscape clean up checklist must include a weed invasion plan.
After the winter, check if your yard has weeds. If you see any, pull them up immediately. Spray herbicide all over your lawn to kill weed seeds before they start causing trouble.
| NOTE – Going with the non-chemical way? Then, make sure you do it during the first days of spring and before the application of fertilizers. Or else, the weed killer will spur the growth of weed instead of stopping them. |
Fertilization
Want to know the final and crucial step to a lush, green lawn? It is FERTILIZING.
Wrap up your landscape cleanup chore by applying fertilizer to give your lawn and trees a boost. Fertilization also prevents unsightly weeds from popping up.
Need Help In Landscape Cleanup? Hire Branch Specialists
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Contact us to get a free price estimate for your tree care work!
