Yes, finally the drought and winter is over, some lawns are starting to grow, this can only mean one thing; and that is Spring is arriving.  However, if you are like all you are looking at your yard and screaming for help because it has really taken a toll from the drought and winter months. Before plants emerge in the spring, take the opportunity to clean up the yard for a more attractive garden. After a long drought and winter, there are bound to be old leaves, untrimmed dead grass, and bares spots in your yard. You have a number of jobs to complete to get your landscaping ready for the growing season. I have a list of steps and some tips on how to get your yard spruced up for Spring time.

 

Clean up debris with a rake and lawn bags. This includes limbs, leaves, trash and anything else that accumulated over the months. Clean out your down spouts. They are so easy to forget but also make the most mess if you do not remember to clean them out. Leaves, limbs and other debris can gather up into the down spouts and cause your roof to have leakage problems. Cleaning these first will also allow you to throw the debris into the yard and clean it up later! Cut back overgrown bushes and shrubs with pruning shears or loppers, depending on branch diameter. Fall and winter have provided the perfect growing opportunity for bushes and shrubs in your yard, which is one of the main reasons why you need to trim them back.

 

It is time to mow your yard for the first time but do not feel so anxious at cutting it so low. If you have had a lot of water mixed with warm temperatures, spring may require that you cut your grass. Doing so will not only improve the appearance of your lawn but also help the grass grow. You do not want to kill the grass that is growing. Before you begin to mow you will need to make sure your yard is free and clear of any sort of large branches, rocks, limbs and other things that may have collected up during the months. You do not want your lawnmower to mess up once you run it over a large rock. Take a look at your lawnmower setting from the last cut of last year. Allow your lawnmower to cut it the next level higher to insure the new grass growth does not die out. If you cut your grass to low on the first time for Spring and there is no rain any time soon then your yard will die out and will take a while to get the grass to grow back. Reseed any grass, because the drought & winter may have killed off some areas of your yard. Doing so now prevents it from becoming a mud puddle once the rainy season arrives. Water your yard if it is dry. In some areas there may not have been enough moisture during some months for your yard. Providing it with some water via your sprinklers may be just what it needs to green up and grow. 

 

Weeds are a thing that just will bother us until we decide to really nip them in the bud. Make sure you clean up all the weeds in the flower beds, along your driveway, next to your house and so on. Also, take down those vines that are also overgrowing on the side of your house and patio. The main reason we need to get rid of this over growth is because the more over growth we have the more we are prone to have bugs and such growing in them and habitating into our houses. You can take the trash and pulled weeds from the flower beds and add them to the pile of debris from the down spouts. A good tip to help keep the weeds away is to spray a weed killer spray on the area right after you pull them up. If you do not know what kind to pick up, just ask the specialist at Home Depot or Lowes which kind they would recommend. Every state has different varieties of land so the kind of spray will depend on where you live. Also here is another great tip. If you do not feel like shelling out a lot of money for weed killer, then mix a half and half spray of water and Clorox and use this mixture. The Clorox kills the roots to the core.

If you have a concrete anywhere in your yard then you will need to edge and trim the growth up over the concrete. You want to buy a trimmer or edger and cut along the line of the concrete onto the grass. Make sure the line you cut stays straight. This will give your concrete (driveway, patio and etc.) a professional look and also help the stop of overgrowth onto the driveway. Also, please remember to edge the curb along the street.

The easiest way to clean up the mess you have just created is to use a blower to blow the surface grass and dirt up. You will clean up later in a better manner but you want to make sure you get up any big clumps blown away first.

 

Every Spring it is a good idea to wash your house to get all the pollen and dirt build up off the siding from the years past. You begin with mixing half Clorox and half water into a bucket with warm water and using a scrub brush and brush the mixture onto the house. Wash it off with water afterwards. The best time to wash your home is a rainy day. Make sure it is just rain and not lightening and thundering. The extra rain will help you use less water. Or just use your water hose with an extension to rinse off your house with good old plain water.

 

The final thing you need to do in preparing your yard for the Spring is to make sure you protect your house from the lovely bugs that will be coming back out in the warmer weather. You can either call an exterminator to come to your home and spray a mixture of regicide. Usually anywhere from $20 a month plus. This can get very expensive. Or, you can do what people have been doing for years and that is purchasing a bottle of regicide at your local Wal-Mart, and spraying it around the base of your house once every three months. Buy Eliminator or the cheapest bug spray (by the gallon) to use on your house.

For more information you can go to: www.cleanairgardening.com or www.mytexashomeresource.com
There are many websites on the internet that can answer any of your questions.