7 ESSENTIAL SPRING GARDEN CLEANING TIPS

Prune the shrubs – Early spring is a good time for pruning. It helps new growth and helps to prevent disease issues.

But don’t trim early blooming shrubs just yet. Wait until after they’re done flowering, or you could wind up cutting off all the buds by accident.

Remove old & wet mulch – Once the temperature starts to warm up, you can remove any winter mulch you may have added over your sensitive plants last fall.

You should also remove. Using a hand rake to clean up debris and leaves around a plant. Using a hand rake to clean up debris and leaves around a plant

Brush back thick leaves – A common garden clean up question I get is, “should you remove leaves from flower beds in spring?”.

Don’t worry, you don’t need to remove all the leaves from your beds; they are good for the soil. Leaves act as a layer of mulch to help keep the weeds down and feed the plants as they decompose.

Just be sure to brush back any thick layers of leaves that are sitting on top of your plants. If you want to add mulch, you can just lay it right over top of the leaves.

Remove dead growths – Prune or pull the dead leaves from perennials like lilies, ornamental grasses, coneflowers, and sedums.

You don’t need to be too diligent about cleaning flower beds in spring. Just be sure to remove any thick clumps of leaves that are on top of the plants, so they won’t slow new growth.

Take care when trimming around the base of plants during spring garden clean up so you don’t accidentally cut off new growth.

Also, don’t try too hard to pull dead leaves and stems from the ground. If you force it too much, you could end up pulling out new roots or growth in the process. If there’s resistance when you try to pull, then prune it out instead.

Clean up the vegetable garden – Pull out any dead vegetables that you didn’t get around to removing last fall.

Try to remove as much of the plant debris and roots as possible as you clean up your veggie beds.

Also, detangle any dead vines from trellises and growing supports to make them look nicer as new vines take their time growing in.

Pull weeds – Spring is a great time to get a jump on cleaning up and pulling weeds before they have time to become established.

Weeds are easy to see before all the perennial plants start filling in. Plus, since the ground is wet from the snow melt, they’re easier to pull too.

Once you’re done weeding, cover the soil with a thick layer of mulch to help keep new weeds from sprouting.

Edge garden beds to remove grass – Grass has a way of creeping into your beds, and it easily goes unnoticed through the busy summer months.

Spring is the perfect time to edge your beds to clean up and remove the stray grass. Once you have the debris and weeds cleaned up, the grass is easier to see.

It’s also simple to pull out since the soil is wet.