While yard work isn’t usually at the top of our list of favourite spring and summer activities, this year is a little different. We’re all finding ourselves with a much shorter list and a much longer period of time spent at home. However, we’ve found that getting around to those nagging outdoor chores now is a great way to feel productive and stay busy. Once you’ve gotten through this spring landscape maintenance checklist, you’ll be rewarded with more living space to enjoy during your time at home!
Early Lawn Care
Before tending to your lawn, take a walk on it. If you still have areas that are mushy underfoot, it’s too early to do your spring lawn maintenance. Wait until the ground is firm and dry before dethatching, applying topsoil, overseeding, and applying a dose of spring fertilizer. Water your lawn to start germinating the lawn seed and pay attention to the forecast. Thanks to the morning dew and frequent rains, you should only need to water occasionally to keep the soil moist.
Clean Out Your Eavestroughs
Even if you cleaned them out in the fall, a second cleanup never hurts once the weather starts to warm up. The best-case scenario is that your thorough cleaning paid off, and you won’t have much to do. However, there’s still a good chance that debris has built up again in the gutters. It’s important to clear out any blockages so all that rain and runoff from the melt gets channeled away from your home’s foundation.
Give Garden Beds a Spring Cleaning
Now that you can see the soil surface, the effort you put into your fall yard cleanup will finally pay off! If you were thorough about cleaning up your garden beds before the snow fell, you won’t have much to do except clear away any landscaping fabric or debris. If you couldn’t get around to prepping your beds in the fall, now is a great time to cut down spent perennial leaves to the ground, turn some compost into the soil, and get the area ready for your spring planting.
Top Up Your Mulch
With all the melting snow and rainfall of the season, mulch tends to wash away and break down throughout the landscape. A fresh top-up of mulch is one of the fastest and most impactful ways to make the whole landscape look fresh and clean. If you’re already a Salisbury Landscaping customer, we offer mulch top-up service to keep your investment looking its best—contact us to book an appointment!
Prune Your Trees and Shrubs
Early spring is the ideal time to prune most shrubs and trees, as many of them are still dormant now. For plants that have already set buds, wait to prune until immediately after they’ve flowered so you can shape them up before they begin setting buds for next year. Otherwise, for species that bloom on new wood, you can give them a thorough once-over to set them up for a healthy new season.
Inspect Decks and Hardscapes for Damage
With our harsh Edmonton winters, our hardscapes take a beating every year. Take some time to look closely at all the structures around your lawn so you can catch any issues early on in the year. Look for:
- Cracks or potholes in concrete or pavement
- Lifting or heaving pavers
- Cracking, instability, warping, or loose nails in wood structures
- Loose bricks or stones in retaining walls or wing walls
If you find any of these issues, and we completed your landscape last year, make sure to contact our warranty department for assistance. Even if you’re not eligible for warranty services at this time, we can help you find the best solution to correct these problems quickly, so you can focus on enjoying your outdoor space worry-free!
General Cleaning and Maintenance
Even if all of your structures are sound, they may be looking a little weatherbeaten. Once the forecast shows a few nice, sunny days in a row, take the opportunity to pressure wash your concrete and decking, sand and re-stain wood structures, and top up the polymeric sand between your pavers. Make sure to take a “before” photo before you get started—it’s so satisfying to compare to the “after”!
Spring landscape maintenance can be a lot of work, and we recognize that spending more time at home doesn’t mean we all have more time to spend. If you’re a Salisbury Landscaping customer, we offer a variety of yearly follow-up services to help you cut this list down to size.
Let us help
Get in touch today to find out how our team can help you make the most of your outdoor space this spring!
