Most spring cleaning tasks are focused on deep cleaning your home. But, the transition from one season to the next is a great time for you to take a look at your yard! Don’t wait until the season is well underway to start caring for your yard. Here are a few things you can do to take the spring-cleaning spirit into your outdoor spaces.
Prune your Shrubs
Get started by pruning your shrubs and trees. Look for any damaged branches and remove them. It’s also best to use a handsaw instead of electric shears! Pruning helps the whole plant thrive by preventing the outer layer from becoming too dense and blocking sunlight from reaching the center. The perfect time to prune each shrub or bush depends on when they bud. Prune shrubs that flower in the summer before the buds swell. If they bud in the spring, you should wait until after the flowers have fully formed.
Clean Up Your Flower Beds
Here in Andalusia, the last frost is usually pretty early in the season, and sometimes it’s even a little before spring starts. Once the threat of frost has passed, you can rake out your flower beds. Remove fallen leaves, dead foliage, old annuals, and mulch from the previous year. If you use a fertilizer, spread it over your freshly cleaned flowerbeds. Then the rain can carry it to the waiting roots below the surface.
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Start a Compost Heap
Yard cleaning is the best time to start a compost pile! As you do all your tasks around the yard, add any clippings, leaves, and mulch to your compost. Composts work best with smaller items. So, make sure to shred any clippings that are larger than half an inch in diameter. You will also need to keep the compost pile slightly damp. If you don’t have much to add to your pile, use a bagged compost starter to get things going. Throughout the season, remember to aerate the compost heap with a pitch-fork every two weeks.
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