Happy Spring DWC Residents!
Now is the perfect time to get outside and start sprucing up your property. With the threat of winter storms past, you can look for damage and make any needed repairs, as well as prep your home and garden for summer. Here is a convenient spring checklist:
Tasks to Check Off Your List in an Hour or Less
q Inspect driveways and paths. Freezing and thawing are rough on concrete, asphalt, and other hardscape materials. Take a walk around your property to look for damage to walkways, paths, and driveways. Asphalt can often be patched, but damaged concrete may need to be replaced entirely.
q Keep an eye out for termites. Beginning in March and going through May or June, be on the lookout for these winged insects. If there's a bunch of them flying out of a hole in the woodwork, that's probably termites.
q Prevent mosquitos. The best way to prevent mosquitos around your home is simply to get rid of any standing water. Walk around your property. If you see any area where water stands, fix it, tip it, get rid of it, or maintain it regularly.
Tackle These To-Dos Over a Weekend
q Wash windows. Clean the grime off glass inside and out for a lighter, brighter home indoors and increased curb appeal outdoors.
q Clean gutters and downspouts. Clogged gutters and downspouts can cause the wood trim at the eaves to rot, and that can invite all kinds of critters into your attic space.
q Clean your fireplace. If your home has a working wood-burning fireplace, the end of winter is a good time to give it a fresh start.
q Clean sprinklers and irrigation system. Checking your sprinklers or irrigation system in the spring can save water and your plants.
q Check screen doors and windows. Before setting up your screens for the warm months ahead, be sure to carefully check each one and repair any holes or tears, no matter how small.
Maintenance and Extras to Budget for This Season
q Inspect the roof. Winter storms can take quite a toll on a roof. When spring arrives, start by making a simple visual inspection of yours. Look for missing shingles, metal pipes that are damaged or missing, or anything that simply doesn't look right.
q Paint exterior. If you're planning to repaint your home's exterior this year, spring is a good time to set it up. Want to paint but can't decide on a color? Explore your town and snap pictures of house colors you like.
q Reseal exterior woodwork. Wood decks, fences, railings, trellises, pergolas, and other outdoor structures will last longer if they're stained or resealed every year or two.
q Schedule air conditioning service. To get the longest life out of your cooling system and keep it running as efficiently as possible, change the filters at least once each season, and have a licensed professional service the equipment before the start of summer.
q Landscape. A spring yard cleanup checklist can be divided into 5 categories, one of which is the removal of refuse from your grass and planting beds. The other tasks involve getting your yard ready for gardening: prepare flower beds, planting, pest control, weed control, and plant care.
q Spring yard cleanup. Pick up after Old Man Winter. Remove litter and dog feces, dead grass, leaves, and pine cones on lawns. Remove dead leaves and stalks on perennials.
q Lawn care. Rake leaves. A deep raking will also help control thatch buildup. While you're raking, remove pine cones, sweet gum balls, or any other of "nature's refuse".
q Spring cleanup in perennial beds. Begins by removing dead leaves and stalks from perennials and ornamental grasses.
q Preparing planting beds and fertilizing. In established perennial beds, working in compost around your plants to fertilize them is the best thing you can do. Also, remove weed plants and dead growth.
q Planting in your prepared flower beds. Early spring is a good time to install trees and shrubs and to plant a perennial flower border. For annuals and tender perennials, wait until April 15 in our region.
q Prevention: crabgrass and garden pests. Sometimes it's easier to fight weeds before they emerge, rather than waiting till they rear their ugly heads! Pre-emergent herbicides are the answer to that, especially for crabgrass. Timing is key. Crabgrass seed germinates when the soil temperature reaches 55-60 degrees. The herbicide should be applied prior to that time. Here's a good tip: Apply the pre-emergent herbicide sometime between the time the Forsythias stop blooming and the Lilacs start blooming.
q Garden pests. Preventive measures like planting deer-resistant plants and growing rabbit-proof flowers is a good option where fencing isn't practical.
q Prune. When is the best time to prune? You can't go wrong pruning off something that's already dead. Life and death are "color-coded" on trees and shrubs, just beneath their bark, with brown signaling death, green, life. The necessity of pruning off live branches is often determined by one's eye for beauty on a small shrub.
Pruning flowering shrubs. (1) Shrubs that bloom in spring have to have their buds
already in place, on old wood (last year's growth) so they're ready to go when warm weather comes. (2) Shrubs that bloom later in the year don't need that head start. They bloom on new wood (this year's growth).
q Plant care in spring. Remove any deep mulch you may have covering your perennials. Begin watching for new growth to emerge in late winter and early spring.
q Dividing perennials. Some perennials can profit from being divided (and so can your neighbors if you share)! Most can be divided in the spring but there are exceptions. Research your particular type perennials.