Spring Cleaning
Scrub, rake, prune, dig-it's time to get your yard ready for spring fun.
The days of winter may be lingering, but spring is just around the corner. Get a head start on sprucing up your lawn and garden for the season. Use the helpful guide below to give your garden, lawn, and outdoor living areas a clean sweep.
GARDEN
The first rule of spring gardening is to avoid digging too early. Soil should be damp but not sticky. Grab a handful-is it moist enough to clump together, but dry enough to crumble apart as you open your hand? If so, then your soil is ready. If it's too wet, then tackle other tasks while you wait for the soil to dry out in your garden. Digging in soil that's still too soggy destroys the soil structure.
Beds
In planting beds, remove perennial stems that were left through winter to protect plant crowns and offer forage for birds. Don't pull stems; instead, clip them at ground level. Yanking on stems may break emerging shoots. Allow bulb foliage to ripen and die naturally. The leaves create food reserves to fuel next year's flower show.
Gently remove winter mulch and leaves that have accumulated on planting beds. Pair a hand rake with knee pads (#51272 or #101280) or a kneeling pad to make this task easier. You also can tackle cleanup with a long-handled rake (#90848). Remove winter mulch on a cloudy day so that the spring sun doesn't burn plants that have already emerged.
Fertilizer
Before a rain, sprinkle slow-release organic fertilizer (#44957) around bulbs, perennials, and roses, scratching it lightly into the soil. Add a fresh 2- to 4-inch-thick layer of organic mulch, such as compost or composted manure.
Planting
Germinate flower and vegetable seeds indoors, making sure seedlings receive 16 hours of light per day. Dig and divide summer- and fall-flowering perennials. Plant cool-season vegetables-broccoli, potatoes, onions, greens, and lettuces-as soon as you can work the ground.
Pruning
Prune fruit trees while they are dormant, before trees flower. If a warm snap coaxes buds open, wait to prune until next winter. Thin your spring-blooming shrubs after they flower.
Tools
Sharpen and oil all cutting blades. Replace the string in your trimmer/edger. Add fuel stabilizer (#188105) to 2- and 4-stroke engines that sat with gas in the tanks all winter. Pull spark plugs, and change oil.
LAWN
Spring lawn care focuses on just a few tasks-but timing is critical. Be sure to follow package directions carefully when applying fertilizer and weed killer.
Weeds
In early spring before forsythia finishes blooming, apply a pre-emergent herbicide (#107707) to turf to control crabgrass. Tackle dandelions and other broadleaf weeds by digging or spraying.
For hand digging, try a specialized weeder tool (#56763) when soil is moist to improve your success at removing the entire taproot. If you have only a few weeds, spot-spray with a broadleaf weedkiller such as Weed-B-Gon (#93062), which will not kill your lawn. To eliminate dandelions from your lawn organically, use a corn gluten product consistently for a few years in a row.
Roots
hatch is a layer of dead grass stems that covers soil, preventing water and nutrients from reaching turf roots. It's particularly a problem with warm-season grasses and best addressed in spring before grass starts to grow. Examine thatch buildup by excavating a 3-inch-deep plug of turf and measuring the thatch. De-thatch if the layer is more than 1 inch thick, and then fertilize after de-thatching. For healthy lawns without a thick thatch layer, use a lawn or thatching rake to remove dead grass stems in early spring before growth begins. Fertilize after raking. Otherwise, you can use a de-thatcher or consult a landscaping professional. Compacted soils also prevent water and nutrients from reaching turf roots. Cool-season lawns are typically aerated in fall; warm-season lawns should be aerated in spring.
Fertilizer
Feed your lawn with a slow-release nitrogen fertilizer (#217037). For cool-season lawns, apply fertilizer between March and May. Warm-season grasses require feeding every 30 to 60 days throughout the growing season.
Repair
Overseed bare spots in cool-season lawns; however, wait until late spring or early summer to patch warm-season turf. Do not use pre-emergent herbicides if you plan to overseed.
Mower
Start mowing cool-season grasses when they show green. Raise the mower blade after the first spring cut, and never remove more than one-third of the grass-blade length. If you didn't tune up your mower last fall, do so now.
OUTDOOR LIVING AREAS
Just like the rooms inside your home, outdoor living areas need a spruce-up for spring, so get ready to roll up your sleeves and start scrubbing. Remember to wear rubber gloves when handling powerful cleaners.
Deck
Remove dirt and mildew stains from your deck using a specially formulated deck-cleaning solution, found in the paint department. If the deck is new construction, be sure to purchase a new wood treatment instead of a deck cleaner. Follow this step with a power wash. Choose a nozzle with a vertical slit to avoid scarring the wood. Don't use bleach, which eats away at the wood. Follow with a high-quality deck stain, such as those available from Cabot.
Repair
Overseed bare spots in cool-season lawns; however, wait until late spring or early summer to patch warm-season turf. Do not use pre-emergent herbicides if you plan to overseed.
Fertilizer
Remove dirt on outdoor furniture with an all-purpose cleaner (#87052, #214388, #52932) and scrub brush (#85496, #66469). Tackle rust on metal furnishings with a wire brush and sandpaper. To really refresh your metal furniture, wash and dry it, and then treat it with metal primer (#48941) followed by outdoor-rated paint.
Grill
Double-check the gas connection on your grill. Mix a solution of warm water with a small amount of dish soap, brush some on the connection, turn on the gas, and watch. Bubbles signal a leak and mean that you should replace your connector: it's dangerous to use a grill with a leaking connector.
Use a wire brush (#178374) and degreaser (#127394) on the grill to remove baked-on grease on the cooking grate and grill pan. Heating them first can make grease easier to remove. Use a piece of wire to ensure burners and holes are clear. Give the outside of your grill a shine with a stainless steel cleaner (#40328).