Spring Yard Clean-up in Calgary
Spring is just around the corner and you know what this means. It is time to get your spring cleaning started. When you think you are prepared to throw off the winter cold, odds are that your lawn and gardens will be ready to as well. With some hard work, you can ensure that your yard will be blooming by summer.
Spring cleaning activities are performed to freshen up a home that was shut down all winter. During this time of the year, lawns need some special care to prepare your yard for the coming season. This guide will discuss everything that you have to learn to give your landscape a beautiful look this spring.
Pruning and Cutting Down Plants
Perennials, ornamental grasses, and other herbaceous plants must be cut down to a few inches above the ground line. You do not have to be concerned about putting the timing right. You are safe to cut back as long as there’s not yet significant new development coming out of the ground.
Winter is the right time to prune shrubs that bloom on new growth depending on the plant and the effect that you want. Make sure that these plants are pruned until new growth comes up.
Cleaning and Making New Bed Edges
Take a closer look at the edges of your garden beds before you add some fresh mulch. Add some definition to those beds that seem to need a cleaner edge. Doing that now prior to adding new mulch will guarantee that the mulch will stay in its desired location, and would ensure that the grass and ground cover are not wandering around.
Use a straight shovel to create a new edge then cut it straight down 3 to 4 inches. Eliminate any grass clumps, putting them in low lawn areas or divots. You do not need to discard clumps of grass or soil. Take the clumps of grass or soil and put them upside down in the garden beds and top them off with mulch. The other option is to put them in your green bin for composting.
Removing Weeds
Make sure to eradicate weeds once they appear because they will just grow bigger. Usually, some of these winter weeds germinated last autumn and will spring up once the weather warms up. They won’t disappear by just chucking mulch on top of them. The right way of completely eliminating is by using a trowel or tiny weeding device.
After all the weeds have been taken away and before mulch is laid down, you can apply a pre-emergent herbicide to the soil surface. Introducing a pre-emergent herbicide to gardens, tree rings, curbs and pavement cracks will halt the germination of weed seeds.
Creating a Fertile Ground
Some plants may not require extra nutrients. However, it may benefit many perennials, soil coverings, shrubs and decorative flowering plants such as Roses, Forsythia, Azalea, Abelia, Viburnum, and Hydrangea if you place a slow-release fertilizer under the mulch after a clean-up on the site. There is no need to concern yourself with fertilizing larger trees and ornamental grasses in turf locations since they will acquire from your turf fertilizer all of the nutrients that they require.
Look for a low-nitrogen fertilizer with a nitrogen release of no less than 50 percent. In a few months, an additional application may be necessary for heavy feeders like roses.
Applying Garden Mulch
Mulch is your landscape’s ultimate multi-tasker. Mulch reduces weed growth, decreases soil temperatures, preserves soil moisture, prevents erosion of soil, and improves your property’s curb appeal.
Shredded pine and cedar are commonly used within Calgary and area as a mulch. Another popular choice is bark nuggets. These are phenomenal when used around trees and in shrub beds. Composted pine and spruce fines like our Montane Mulch should be used for perennial beds.
No matter mulch you pick, always make sure that it is applied at the proper depth. Although it varies from plant to plant, the standard is about 1-2 inches. For example, for larger shrubs and trees, 2 inches is a fair approximation, but that may be overwhelming for specific perennial plants or smaller shrubs with shallow roots. The best approach is to prevent stacking up mulch around the bottom of your plants, shrubs, or trees, as this can end up causing roots to smother and encourage other issues such as stem fungal diseases and pests.
Take note that you do not have to put in 2 inches of mulch every spring. You just need to keep the proper depth for your specific plants, so top off you mulch as needed.
For any deep layer of mulch which may have ended up covering your perennials throughout the winter, you will need to spread this come spring. Watch for the return of the perennials to assess when to spread the mulch away from them. This will allow your perennials to grow unhindered.
If you have added a thick layer of mulch, it will inevitably have to be spread away from your perennials or else they may be smothered. As soon as the ground starts to thaw, the best solution is to start monitoring to see if your perennials are going up. In case this happens, eliminate the mulch when it’s warm out, and then restore it when the cold returns. Once warmer weather returns for good and the perennials pushed up a couple of inches, put a mulch layer again to hold back the weeds and conserve water during summer.
Are you ready for Spring?
Here at Ornamental Stone, we offer you some of the best products for your landscaping and mulching needs. We have been providing quality hardscape and landscape supplies in Calgary and the surrounding area since 1991. If you need garden mulch delivered for your next project, give us a call at (403)275-5550. We can deliver bulk landscape supplies next day!