The winter in the Pacific Northwest has finally passed, and you are itching to get outside and garden. However, whether you’re in Portland or Lake Oswego, landscaping during spring can be challenging because of lingering cold, wind and rain. Meanwhile, fallen leaves and broken branches have destroyed your yard. Here are a few spring landscaping design and yard maintenance steps you can take to prepare your yard for warmer weather ahead.
1. Pick Up Winter Debris Start with picking up all the yard debris that has accumulated over the winter, including dead wood, broken limbs, and debris in your pool. It’s also time to rake, trim the lawn, prune trees, pull weeds and touch up mulch. Don’t worry about changing the landscape design just yet. Instead, ensure that you’re prepared for the brisk spring weather by wearing thick gloves, sturdy boots and heavy jeans.
2. Unclutter Your Gutters This chore is annoying, potentially dangerous, and absolutely necessary if you want a healthy yard. Clogged gutters can lead not only to yard damage but also roof damage. Make sure your downspout is strategically placed and operable; otherwise, water may overflow into your yard, garden beds, and other sensitive areas. If this occurs, you could find yourself calling not only your local landscaper, but a general repair company as well.
3. Prune and Plant Northwest Oregon is known for roses, and now is a good time to plant new ones. It’s also a good time to prune and train fruit and berry vines. If the soil is dry enough, you can start preparing your vegetable garden by planting carrots, broccoli, peas, and onions. Those in higher elevations should probably wait a little longer, or start their seeds indoors.
4. Map out Your Flower Bulbs Spring bulbs like tulips and blue bells might be starting to sprout by now, so creating a map of where each bulb is now will help you later, when you starting planting other late-blooming plants. If you’re unsure where to plant that dahlia, your spring bulb map will show you where its color will be best accented.
5. Repair Rock Walls and Fix Stepping Stones Inspect your decorative rock walls or stones for any knocked loose by heavy wind and rain. If any are loose, restack them so they don’t pose a danger to anyone that may walk or sit on them. To fix them, simply lift the stones out of their spots and level the ground beneath with extra dirt or gravel before relaying them.
6. Prepare Tools Even if the weather is still too nasty for serious landscaping, you can still prepare for the next plantings by cleaning off and sharpening all your tools. That way, when the sun finally does hit, your shovels, spades, rakes, hoes, hoses, and ceramic pots will be ready to go.
Now you know plenty of landscaping chores you can busy yourself with before the sunny weather hits. Not all yard work can be DIY, however. If your yard was hit particularly hard this winter, or if you have large amounts of dirt or rock to move, you may want to hire a professional landscaping services provider. It will cost a bit more, but the price of your safety and well-being–and time you will save–will be worth it.