Sometimes all it takes is a bit of sunshine and warmth to perk up our spirits and bring us outdoors. But as you venture outside, you may notice that the increasingly springlike weather has also perked up your lawn and plants. Not only is the garden budding with new growth, winter has left its mark on your yard with broken branches, bare patches, and a bit of cleanup that needs to take place.
No worries. With a little incentive and a thoughtful plan of action, your yard will soon be ready for the growing season ahead. As to the incentive? You’ll be saving yourself a lot of time and energy later on by getting your garden in shape right now.
Put into practice these 21 tips and you’ll soon be rewarded with a healthier and more vigorous landscape. As an added bonus, you may just find that your yard becomes the envy of the neighborhood.
1. Start your spring lawn prep by using a rake to remove any leaves and other garden debris that have accumulated over winter. Once the debris has been cleared, give your lawn a boost by spreading a thin layer (about 1/4 inch thick) of aged compost.
2. Re-seed bare patches in your lawn. First, loosen the surface to a depth of 2 to 4 inches, then level the soil by using the back of a garden rake. Next, spread a mixture of grass seed and compost or fertilizer over the bare spot. Tamp the surface with the flat end of a rake to firm in the seed, then water as needed.
3. Check hand tools and equipment to see if any need repairing, cleaning or replacing. And make sure your irrigation system is working properly for the upcoming growing season.
4. Apply a 2- to 3-inch layer of mulch around the base of plants, trees and shrubs as well as emerging bulbs and perennials. This helps to moderate soil temperatures, maintain soil moisture, deter weeds and make your soil more friable by increasing the population of beneficial soil microorganisms. Plus, it makes your garden look more beautiful. Good sources of mulch include compost, shredded bark or leaves. Recycled rubber mulch works well around trees and shrubs, and the rubber suppresses weeds better than bark mulch.
5. Fertilize growing plants in spring with compost, aged manure or all-purpose organic fertilizer. Start fertilizing container plantings.
6. Aerate your lawn. This will allow oxygen, water and nutrients to easily reach grass roots. But do it the easy way. Use a soil conditioner product, such as LazyMan Liquid Soil Aerator
This soil conditioner is fortified with beneficial microorganisms that aerate the soil so roots grow better. The overall result is a lush green lawn and a healthier, more productive garden. Just attach the product to your garden hose and spray. How simple is that?
7. Prune any broken, diseased or dead limbs from deciduous trees and other woody plants. Prune back spring-blooming shrubs such as forsythia after flowering. And don’t put your pruners or loppers away just yet. Now is the time to thin out and trim up summer-blooming shrubs like summersweet (Clethra alnifolia) and most roses.
8. Clear out weeds and last season’s garden debris from beds and borders. Remove or cut down last year’s perennial foliage and toss it in the compost pile.
9. Don’t have a compost pile? You can easily start one by layering carbon-rich materials (brown) with nitrogen-rich materials (green) at a 3-to-1 ratio, adding a layer of soil in between each addition. Good brown sources include garden trimmings, dry leaves, pine needles, straw, wood chips, shredded paper products and sawdust. Green sources can be found in grass clippings, green leaves and plant material, animal hair and manures, as well as kitchen wastes.
10. Hold off on the lawn fertilizer until after your first spring mowing, then limit your spring feeding to 1/2 pound of actual nitrogen per 1,000 square feet of lawn. (A 20-pound bag of fertilizer containing 5 percent nitrogen equals 1 pound of actual nitrogen.)
11. Start the spring season with a sharp blade on your lawn mower. A dull blade will rip grass rather than cut it, making plants more susceptible to infection and water loss.
12. Before planting, consider the characteristics of your yard, such as soil type, sun and shade patterns, direction of prevailing winds and proximity to water. For example, planting in heavy clay soil that drains poorly is a recipe for disaster. But that’s easily remedied with raised beds filled with commercial garden soil that’s rich and friable.
13. Check the pH of your soil with a soil test kit, available at garden centers and home improvement stores. Most plants grow best in soil with a pH between 6.0 to 7.0. Some plants — such as azalea, heather, astilbe and hydrangea — prefer acidic soil in the range of 4.5 to 6.5. Plants grown in the proper soil pH are healthier, more productive and more resistant to disease and insects.
14. When planting container plants, be sure to loosen the root ball so that plant roots can easily spread out into the soil. This will help plants settle faster into their new space.
15. Mow your lawn to a height of 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 inches, and mow frequently so that no more than one-third of the grass is cut in one mowing. Mowing high and mowing often produces a tougher turf that crowds out pesky weeds and is less susceptible to drought and summer heat. The result is a greener lawn that saves you time and money.
16. Get your new plants off to a good start by thoroughly soaking the soil before putting them in the ground. Once plants are in the ground, be sure to water them thoroughly, keeping the soil slightly moist at all times during the first growing season until plants become established.
17. Create drifts of color and texture by arranging your annuals and perennials in groups of three, five, or seven — in other words, odd numbers. Plants growing in large drifts or colonies create harmony in the landscape and appear more natural.
18. Don’t rely on plants alone to add color to your yard. Go for the unexpected, like a brightly painted purple chair, a large cobalt blue ceramic vase, or even a old bicycle painted bright red. You can park it by a flower bed for instant garden art.
19. Arrange new plantings in layers, with medium-sized plants in the middle, low plants in front, and tall plants in back. If you’re planting an island, place taller plantings in the middle instead. You’ll create more visual interest if you stagger your plantings so they’re not lined up in straight rows.
20. Create excitement in your landscape with a focal point that lures you in, such as an interesting sculpture, the sound of a fountain, a cozy seating area, or even whimsical garden art, such as an old wheelbarrow planted with colorful flowering annuals. Garden structures, archways or a prominent bed can also bring interest to an area.
21. Attract birds to your garden. A single chickadee can consume up to 1,000 bad bugs a day. Include a birdbath as well as seed- and fruit-bearing plants, like sunflower, echinacea, cotoneaster, honeysuckle, viburnum, aster, salvia and zinnia.
By Kris Wetherbee | For The Oregonian/OregonLive Click Here –> Go to where article was originally found.