Spring Clean-ups and Repairs

"Spring is nature's way of saying 'Let's party!'"

- Robin Williams

Repair and Rejuvenation

Our crews are attending to winter damage and assessing rejuvenation opportunities. Important considerations as plants come out of dormancy:

• Broken tree limbs and branches should be pruned to provide a clean cut, thus minimizing opportunity for disease and pest infestation.
• Where leaders have been injured or broken, corrective pruning can likely renew a woody plant.
• Many of the ornamental Japanese maples split with the heavy snow. Sometimes a screw or carriage bolt can save such a valuable tree.
• Plow damage to lawns should be graded, top dressed and reseeded.

Lawn and Bed Cleanup

Remove all leaves, broken branches and debris from the lawn and garden beds. Then rake the beds well. After the leaves are removed, often you will find green perennials weeds -- remove and dispose of them.

Pruning

Late winter and early spring is the best time to prune many ornamental trees and shrubs for health and form. First remove branches that are dead or diseased. Then remove crossing branches. Finally prune for shape and size. The rule of thumb is to not remove more than 25-35% of the plant per year. Roses and many woody perennials (e.g. Butterfly Bush, Russian Sage, Artemisia) should be pruned later in the spring once the new growth starts.

Herbaceous Perennials

Herbaceous perennials need attention in the spring. Cutting back the dead stems that have been left standing through the winter should be done as soon as the ground isn't sloppy. If you didn't do a fall clean-up, be sure to clear any dead foliage left behind after the hard frost. Often these leaves carry disease from the prior growing season, so it is good to remove it as soon as possible.

Look for any crowns which have heaved out of the ground and replace them -- this is especially common with Heuchuras. 

Spring is a great time to divide many perennials, once new growth appears. If a perennial blooms after late June, then spring is the best time to divide it. There are exceptions, and there are many perennials that are very resilient and can be divided in either fall or spring.

Adding a top dressing of compost and organic fertilizer gives the plants nutrients as they spring back to life.  

Mulching, Edging, Weeding (Again)

It takes a very dedicated gardener to keep a garden weeded and adequately watered without a layer of mulch. Mulch is a functional, organic material that adds humus to the soil as it deteriorates, and keeps the weeds at-bay and soil moist. It also looks tidy. In areas where weeds are blown in from neighboring properties, it is often helpful to apply corn gluten or a product like Preen on top of the mulch to stop their germination.  

Add a clean edge with a shovel to keep the turf lawn from invading the bed, and for good appeal. And there will likely be weeds lurking that you missed the first time around.