Landscape maintenance is a year-round thing here in Central Florida, thanks to that mild weather the northerners envy.
Palm fronds drop year round. Crape Myrtles get trimmed in winter. Hedges might need snipping any time of year.
But spring is a great time for a fresh start, landscape-wise.
There’s clean-up to do, mulch to replace, plans to make for the seasons ahead.
A helpful spring landscaping maintenance checklist will help set up your landscape for success for the coming year.
Check out these spring landscaping tips:
Most of our serious pruning happens in winter, not spring. Think ornamental grasses like muhly and sand cordgrass.
Crape Myrtles get their pruning in winter, too, not spring, and please don’t hack the poor things to death, says Ground Source landscape designer Eric Frisch. He calls the aggressive pruning “crape murder,” and it’s a big pet peeve of skilled landscape pros.
But spring is a great time to trim back any damaged plants in your landscape.
Dead or dying leaves and withered flower heads take valuable nutrients away from the living parts of the plant.
Landscape maintenance like pruning and trimming back dead branches and flowers removes the dead weight so new spring buds can sprout. Add it to your spring landscape maintenance checklist.
Say bye to any weeds that harsh your spring landscape vibe. Weeds choke out nearby plants, greedily starving your good plants of the nutrients they need to grow and thrive.
Plus, weeds just plain look bad. That’s no way to start off such a pretty season.
Winter doesn’t storm into Central Florida the way it does up north, but it still leaves a mess.
Leaves, blossoms and seed pods drop. Twigs and branches and palm fronds topple down during storms. Mulch fades and migrates from once-tidy beds.
All that mess smothers your grass, blocking air, water and sunlight. Then, your grass can’t grow and thrive.
“The main thing is to keep picking up the leaves so they don't pile up and smother the plants and sod from getting the sun they need during the early spring months,” Frisch says.
That leftover winter lawn debris is also the perfect home for unsavory pests like spiders, snakes and rodents. Why put out a welcome mat for gross guests?
Why should a coat of fresh mulch be on your spring landscaping checklist? There are plenty of reasons:
How does yours look? Kind of thin and patchy? A bit faded? That’s not cool.
Spring is a great time for a fresh topping of rich, dark mulch — it makes your landscaping beds, and your whole yard, look instantly great.
Aim for late spring for that new mulch, Frisch advises.
“It’s best to wait until after spring pollen and after oaks drop their leaves before spending money and time on new mulch,” he says.
A fresh bed of mulch pairs perfectly with your spring landscape cleanup.
Is your irrigation system ready for the heat of a Central Florida summer? Better check.
Turn on your system and go through each zone to make sure heads aren’t clogged or spraying where they shouldn’t, and that they rise up high enough to effectively water your lawn and plants.
It’s common for sprinkler heads to sink over time. When heads sink, the water can’t spray as far as it should, and your landscaping suffers.
Not sure exactly what you’re looking for out there? Don’t feel bad. You’re not a professional irrigation specialist. You’re a teacher. Or a chef. Or a deep sea diver. You don’t have time for this stuff.
Add to your spring landscaping checklist: call irrigation maintenance pros to give your sprinkler system a spring inspection.
They’ll discover anything that’s not quite right, from sinking sprinkler heads to clogged nozzles to leaky lines.
Technicians will adjust sprinkler heads that are spraying where they shouldn’t, or spraying out too much water.
They’ll look everything over and spot potential problems before your system breaks down and your grass dies.
They’ll also set your irrigation controller so it waters the right amount for this time of year.
Then you can cross “check sprinkler system” off your spring landscape maintenance checklist.
Winter might have left your soil compacted, and not as light and fluffy as it should be.
When your soil becomes compacted, your lawn can't breathe. Its roots can't take in the water and nutrients it needs to thrive.
Aeration uses a cool machine to pull out tiny cores of soil from your lawn, allowing water and oxygen to get to the roots. After your spring cleanup, once your lawn is tidy and clear of that winter debris, aeration breaks up compacted soil and gives new life to struggling lawns.
Lawn aeration is a great once-a-year task to keep those turf roots breathing. It should be done when the grass is actively growing, which means spring is ideal.
After lawn aeration, you have a bunch of little holes in your lawn, helping your grass breathe. Take advantage of the situation with sod topdressing.
Topdressing is food for your soil, a nutrient-rich layer of soil blended with compost and other organics.
All those little holes from lawn aeration help the topdressing materials nestle nicely down into the soil.
As the material settles, the nutrients release into the soil and do their thing — creating a strong foundation for a healthy and lush lawn. Add this to your spring landscape maintenance checklist.
The result? Healthier soil; deeper, stronger roots and a greener, thicker lawn.
Spring is a time of new beginnings. What does your landscape need so you can enjoy the coming year?
New planting beds? A great new patio? How about a fire pit? You deserve s’mores any time you crave them.
Larger projects take time to plan, schedule and install. Get a jump on your landscaping enjoyment.
Man, that’s kind of a long landscape checklist.
We’re talking about landscape cleanup, aeration and topdressing, new mulch, irrigation maintenance, maybe planning cool new landscaping projects.
Notice how all these Central Florida landscape maintenance tasks all work nicely together?
How about leaving it all to us?
Landscape mess? You’ve got this.
Fresh new mulch? Rich, nutritious topdressing? Aeration so your compacted lawn can breathe again?
Check, check, check.
We’re landscaping experts, and we'll be there with you every step of the way as you plan your perfect outdoor space.
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