Spring is approaching quickly here in Camas, Washougal, and Vancouver, Washington. The changing season brings a host of additional landscape tasks, which can prove daunting to keep up with. Knowing what to focus on and where to start are essential in staying caught up and getting your yard ready for spring.
Cleaning Up
The best place to start in preparing your yard for spring is with a cleanup. This is especially true if debris has been left unchecked throughout the fall and winter months. Leaves, branches, trash, and other debris accumulate all over our landscape throughout the year. Addressing this debris is paramount to preparing your yard for spring. Start by removing any debris on your lawn as this debris can quickly create dead spots in your lawns. Next focus on removing debris from flower and garden beds.
Mowing and Edging
The warmer temperatures of spring awaken our grass from its winter slumber, moving from dormancy into active growth. If your lawn hasn’t seen a mower blade since the beginning of winter, then mowing is even more crucial at the onset of spring. Grass has the tendency to grow incredibly quickly during this time of year, especially if it has been well-fed with nutrients. Another task to perform is giving your yard a proper edge, not only will your lawn appreciate it, but it will give it a well-manicured look that is always appealing.
Weeding
Another plant that begins to grow with vigor during the spring months is weeds or undesirable plants. Lawns and, particularly, flower and garden beds, become quickly overrun with unwanted or invasive plant life. Now, if you haven’t performed any weeding since fall, then this task is especially important as weeds will quickly multiply from last year’s growth. Weeds should be removed as quickly as possible to hinder their further germination and spread. Urban Eden strives to be a leader in organic weed control, and we try our best to always avoid the use of harmful chemicals.
Mulching
Speaking of organic weed control methods, one of the simplest ways to combat weed growth and slow the germination process of these undesirable plants is to apply a thick layer of mulch to your flowerbeds. Not only does mulch help fight against weeds, but it also has various other benefits as well, including moisture retention, insulation, and soil erosion control. Mulch also helps to build soil and creates an aesthetically appealing yard.
Aerating and Dethatching
Throughout the year, our lawns become compacted. Compaction can hinder the growth and health of your lawn. One of the easiest ways to relieve that compaction is to aerate your lawn. Aeration is a process that creates small holes throughout your lawn and relieves this compaction, allowing light, moisture, and nutrients to penetrate into the roots of your grass.
Another process that occurs throughout the year is debris build-up in your lawn. This small debris is referred to as thatch. Thatch accumulates in your grass blocking nutrients, sunlight, and moisture from reaching into the roots of your grass. Removing this thatch is important to the health and aesthetic of your lawn. The best way to remove thatch is by, you guessed it, dethatching. Dethatching pulls up all of this debris so that it can be removed from your lawns.
Fertilizing and Overseeding
One final task that we will mention for any well-rounded spring yard preparation is fertilizing and overseeding. Overseeding is the basic task of applying grass seed to your lawn to fill in bare spots and create a thicker and lusher lawn. Applying a fertilizer ensures that your lawn has all of the nutrients it needs in order to be healthy. During winter your lawn feeds off of nutrients it has stored throughout the year; therefore, when spring rolls around, your lawn’s nutrient stores are rather depleted. Applying fertilizer quickly remedies this problem.
Although there are still several tasks to consider performing for your spring lawn preparation, including trimming and pruning, the above list will get you well on your way to having a healthy lawn for the rest of the year. If you are feeling overwhelmed by all of this, that’s ok, Urban Eden Landscaping would love to help get your yard in shape. Contact us today or fill out our FREE estimate request online.