Start the Season Fresh With Spring Cleanups

In the depths of winter, it’s always a relief to look ahead to warmer, brighter days in spring and summer, and making plans for your landscape is one of the best ways to knock out the winter blues. Spring will thankfully be here before we know it, which makes now the perfect time to schedule a seasonal cleanup to clear away whatever mess the winter has left around your property.

Out With the Old – In With the New!

Now is a good time to clear out any stalks and remnants of annuals and perennials that were still in the landscape late last fall. At the same time, clearing out landscaping beds of fallen branches and remnant leaves from last year is the first step in prepping beds for this year’s plantings. Some planting beds will likely need new, clean edges prior to receiving a fresh coat of mulch this spring.

A thorough spring cleanup is a key first step to preparing your property for a great season.

Shaping Up With Winter Pruning

Winter pruning is an important part of any good landscape maintenance program, and it’s a great way to keep trees and shrubs “in bounds” while helping them maintain a pleasant shape. It’s much easier to see where pruning needs to be done during the winter (because leaves have already fallen). In addition, plants are less active during the winter months, with less fluid moving through the branches. This means that the wounds created from pruning will “bleed” less and heal more quickly.

When leaves have dropped, it’s easier to see what needs to be done for a faster, more effective job.

Trees and shrubs should be pruned in the winter to remove branches that overlap and rub against each other, to remove any dead wood, and to keep stray branches from blocking driveways, walkways and windows. This will lead to healthier, better-looking trees and shrubs and a more functional, aesthetically pleasing landscape. The only landscape plants that won’t benefit from winter pruning are your spring-flowering shrubs. By winter, their buds will have been set for blooming, and pruning them would eliminate flowering next spring.