Watering | Create a Great Lawn | Automatic Sprinklers | Caring Techniques for Lawn Georgia
Clean-up Tips and Help | Fall Fertilization | Insects / Disease | Lawn Clippings
Lawn Seeding Best Results |Your Lawn’s Winter Nap |Mulching Tips
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Clean-up Tips and Help

Across most of the US, the winter has been mild and an early spring seems to be in store for us to enjoy. Regardless of the amount of cleanup you did last fall, there is more to do to get your lawn and landscape ready for the growing season.

Spring has sprung early this year. You may have thought that all the clean-up work you did last fall would pay-off this spring. You got all the leaves raked up and all the roses covered and all you would need to do is some minor picking-up and everything would be all set and ready to go. If you really thought that, then it is probably the first time you have ever owned a home with a lawn and landscape to care for. There is always clean-up work to do in the spring.

The first thing you should do is to take a walk round your lawn and make a quick survey of the effects the winter had on your property. If you have a dog, you may have to clean up their winter ‘activity’. There is no quick cure for dog damage except lots of water to wash the salts from the urine into the soil. In most cases, the grass will recover. If the damage is severe, re-sodding or reseeding of the areas may be necessary.

Check your grass for matted patches that could signal the development of Snow Mold. This disease ‘glues’ the grass blades together, which may inhibit the new grass from growing through the mat. A light raking to break up the matted grass will remedy this situation. If the grass was left too long last fall, an early mowing at 1 ½ to 2 inches would be advisable. This will remove much of the ‘dead’ grass from last year’s growth and allow the new growth to come through easier. A light raking of the entire lawn is also beneficial. This is especially true of there are leaves still scattered across the lawn. Be careful if the ground is wet when you are raking. Vigorous raking can uproot the grass plants.

Do not uncover your roses until the danger of a heavy frost is over. When you do uncover them, clean away any soil or other organic material that was used to ‘heal’ them in for the winter. This material can carry disease spores that can infect your plants. While the plants are still dormant, you can improve their health and vigor with some selective pruning. Remove any dead, blackened, or damaged wood. Prune the cane down to healthy wood, just before a leaf bud. Remove any branches that may be crossing, that are twiggy, or are growing out of the side of a cane. Remove old canes at the bud union and leave 3 to 5 good ones that are evenly distributed. Delay mulching around the plants as this will keep the soil cold and delay the growth of the bushes.

Check your woody landscape plants for injury — particularly the evergreens. Do not be too alarmed if you do not see new growth. Wait until the buds have opened before removing any dead branches, unless they are broken. Take the same ‘wait and see’ approach with perennial plants. Remove any mulch that was placed there to protect them. Some plants take a longer time to come out of winter dormancy than others do. If scale insects or tent caterpillars bothered your landscape plants last year, then you should consider spraying with dormant oil before the buds open. This material will smother the egg cases or over-wintering adults.
Spring is a time of rebirth and reawakening from a long winter’s nap. Getting out into the fresh air of spring can do much to revitalize you as well as your plants. Spend a couple of hours cleaning things up and you will be rewarded with a healthier and more vigorous landscape. It will do wonders for you, also.