10 Things I Did this Week to Get Yard Ready for Spring!

Spring is really tempting us with a few 80 degree days here in Alabama this week. But tonight will bring the cold weather back for the weekend with snow in the forecast. Talk about winter going out with a bang? I did take advantage of the beautiful weather over the last week. Here are 10 things I did just this week to get my yard ready for spring

1-Trim Low Hanging Branches

We have some mature trees that we failed to trim over the years. The limbs now block the sun from reaching the grass in certain areas. Consequently, the grass has died off in these areas. Our back yard has a slight slope so when it rains, the water just runs over the dirt and has washed away some of the top soil. While we plan to rent a lift this year to trim the upper branches, I decided to start with the lower branches that I can reach from the ground.

My Ryobi Pole Saw extends to 9.5 feet so I was able to get many of these lower branches.

I haven’t used a regular size chain saw so I feel I need to practice with that while Mr. Blu is around. In the meantime, I’ve become a wiz with this handy Ryobi tool.

Smaller limbs that are under 2″ in diameter are easy to trim. It is just a matter of placing the blade on the limb and pushing the trigger. Larger limbs require a few more safety precautions in addition to the obvious of:

Keep your personal limbs, digits, and body parts away from the blade.
Only trim branches of the recommended size for your tool.
Follow manufacturer’s recommended instructions.
Position your self correctly to stay clear of falling limbs.

Limb Trimming Methods:

Make a small undercut of about 1/4″-1″, depending on the limb size, about 1-2 feet from where the limb meets the tree base.
Place your blade on the top side of the limb about 12″ from the undercut going toward the end of the branch and away from the trunk. This prevents damage to the bark.
Make your 3rd cut closer to the trunk where the branch transitions from bumpy to smooth.

The best tutorial I found is from my friend Chelsea at Today’s Homeowner. She does a great job of explaining how proper pruning techniques are critical to the longevity of your tree by ensuring optimal healing of the cut area. Always follow the manufacturer’s instructions and follow strict safety guidelines when using any type of tool.

While the weather is not ready for me to work in the yard every day, I can trim a few trees here and there to help get the yard ready for spring.

2-Plan Window Box Planters

I love a good window box. All of these planters from my store, The Blue Building Antiques, which closed in 2019.

I plan to hang these around my newly built deck. But there are quite a few so I want to make sure they are placed tastefully.

In preparing to plant, I researched coconut liners. Whew! They can be quite expensive. I finally found some alternatives on Amazon.

I did find these reasonably priced round coconut liners in store at Walmart for $4.97! And online for $3.97

I also found a 60″ liner at Walmart.com for $3.97. Great buy!

How about buying a sheet of coconut liner and form fitting each planter? This comes in 15″ x 40″ or 80″ roll. I ordered the 80″ to start. 40″ roll basically costs the price of one basket liner at Home Depot. I should get 2 liners out of the one roll.

I will get the boxes ready with liners and soil and then the fun begins in selecting the right sun tolerant plants.

3-Trim Stray Limbs from Bushes, Shrubs, and Small Trees

We have quite a few bushes in our front garden beds and in the pool area. By spring, they all need some attention to trim stray growth and tidy up their appearance. During spring and summer, active growth season, we tend to trim these every 2 months or so. But at the beginning of spring, we do an more aggressive trimming. This seems to promote new growth.

This includes reshaping boxwoods. I bought these great topiary sheers last year.

I use them to shape my boxwoods which I bought quite small but they are growing nicely. Every few months, I devote about 30 minutes to shaping the bushes

4-Plan a Garden Around the Mailbox

Our yard gets full direct Alabama sun all day long. In years past I would buy colorful and lovely annuals only to watch them be scorched to death. This year I’m not going to fool myself into thinking that I will drag the hose or tote a watering can every day to the mailbox garden when June arrives. So I am planning a more thoughtful and water tolerant garden for this area. Thus far, I have purchased a few snap dragons. Not only are the snaps heat tolerant, but in Alabama, they usually come back the next year. Double win! Here is the mailbox area:

Last year I spread the ever heat tolerant and impossible to kill Spiderwort around the yard. They have a vibrant purple flower and are super easy to grow. Aren’t the purple blooms pretty?

But they are extremely invasive and I am ready to thin them out dramatically. They will be coming out of the front garden this year. I might keep a few but they literally take over and I am completely over them! I consider them more of a weed.

The circles are all spiderwort.

5-Apply Pre-Emergent Weed Control to Lawn

I am lucky to have a weed control service who does this for me but this is critical to keeping weeds at bay. It’s almost too late here in Alabama but grass is just starting to green up so there is still some time. You can apply a good pre-emergent weed killer with a larger rolling broadcast spreader or a hand held spreader.

I used a hand held unit for spreading ant bait and pest killer. It’s great for smaller areas. It’s perfect for inside our fenced pool area, to which I did dispense the pre-emergent this week. And in researching for this post, I found that Ryobi now makes a hand spreader!

In the past, I have used this pre-emergent weed killer from Home Depot.

My understanding is that the pre-emergent does not contain any fertilizer. It simply stops the formation of new root cells in baby weed plants without affecting roots of established grass and plants.

6-Use Topsoil to Even Lawn

Our home is about 30 years old but the soil seems to settle a little more each year. I like to have some topsoil on hand to fill ruts and sinking areas in the yard. I simply fill the holes and the grass normally grows over the top soil within 2-4 weeks. Can you see the dips in the lawn?

For larger sinking spots, I have used a razor knife to score the grass into a sheet and a shovel to pull back the grass, fill with soil, and replace the grass. It’s much easier just to spread some top soil as long as you don’t mind the bare spots on the lawn until the grass spreads.

Here are the spots with top soil added.

7-Freshen the Flower Beds

I started to weed the front garden against our house. This will take another session or two. I have to do it in stages. I simply block out sections of 5 and do one section at a time. Many of the plants need to be thinned out. Like these daffodils who are way overcrowded!

While I can still tell the daffodils from the spiderwort and lilies, I will split those with bulbs and discard those pesty invaders.

It’s also nice to refresh your mulch each spring too! There is nothing like the smell and look of a freshly mulched garden. I usually add a few bags each spring. But this year, I will do the entire front garden areas. Home Depot usually has their much on sale for 4 bags for $10 for several weeks in the spring. So I am waiting for that sale.

As you can see, our garden beds needs mulch!!! And weeding and refreshing! I will be very busy out there soon.

While it may be a little too cool to actually do your planting, it’s a great idea to have the beds ready for that first glorious perfect spring day.

8-Perform Maintenance on Tools and Equipment

A pre-spring check up of all lawn and garden equipment and tools is a great idea. Here is a small list of items to check:

Put that riding mower in for maintenance before everyone gets theirs out for the first cut and realize they have issues. Sharpen your blade. Change oil and fuel. Buy additive.
Sharpen blades and edges on trimmers, pruners, lobbers, etc.
Replace any filters on equipment.
Check tire pressure and condition.
Ensure your motorized equipment starts smoothly.
Check the pool filter and condition of liners, steps, etc.

These items are a good place to start! While these are just a few suggestions, I’m sure you could add 50 other tasks to this list. Here are some more projects that are on my list for spring:

9-Stock Up on Supplies for My Next Spring Projects

Once the weather is consistently above 60 degrees I have a few larger outdoor projects to tackle. When I saw the associated products on sale this week, I grabbed them.

Pressure Wash Walkway

My Ryobi pressure washer is the perfect size for small projects and beginners. Once the weather is consistently warmer, I will use it to pressure wash the house. I purchase a $10 jug of Zep pressure washing solution to make the driveway process go more quickly.

Pressure Wash Driveway

We have been in our home for 20 years! And you can tell from the driveway. This will be a big project with my current Ryobi pressure washer. I will most likely invest in a larger unit that works a bit more quickly and has more power. But, it is a great unit for small project.

Clean the House Siding

Two years ago is the last time I pressure washed the exterior vinyl siding on our house. One side of our home is shaded by trees so the sun does not hit that wall and there tends to be algae and mildew on the siding. This product was phenomenal. It simply attaches to your hose. I made one spray application and let it sit for about 15 minutes before a final rinse. I would say 95% of the green mildew was removed in this fashion. There were a few more stubborn spots. For these, I simply made a second application and that did the trick.

So I bought some 30 Seconds for this season and I’m ready for the perfect day to get the hose out and de-moss the siding!

10-Sprinkle Spring Indoors

With all of the gorgeous spring flowers beginning to thrive, I decided to take advantage of their beauty.

I have a nice collection of vintage items so I used some to decorate my home. This post, 5 Simple Ways to Add Spring to Your Decor, jump started my spring decorating and I just can’t seem to stop!