6 Outdoor Maintenance Tips For Your Spring Garden
When the winter frost begins to melt away and the warm weather arrives, it’s time to get your outdoor space looking beautiful again! Late winter and early spring is the best time for outdoor preparations to get your space ready for your garden. If you live in an area that gets snow, make sure to wait until the weather starts to warm up consistently before doing any garden maintenance. Once you see the signs of spring, it’s important to start your outdoor work as soon as possible. When you’re ready to start your spring checklist, make sure to include these 7 outdoor maintenance tips for your spring garden.
1. Organize, Clean, & Prep Your Garden Tools
Your garden tools have been sitting your garage or shed for the entire winter season, so it’s important to get these tools ready to save yourself some time later on. Get organized and get all your tools out to see everything you have and all the work that needs to be done on them. This step is incredibly important to do early on because it’ll help you be completely prepared to plant your garden when the time comes.
Start by cleaning all your tools. If there’s any old soil, dirt, or dust on your tools, make sure to get them all clean and shiny before you use them for your garden. You’ll also want to sand off any rust that has formed on the tools to assure the best quality for your garden. Additionally, make sure to sharpen your digging tools if needed.
As you’re going through all your tools, decide if any of them need a replacement. If some of your garden tools have been used for many years, it might be time for some fresh ones. This is a great time to purchase new tools and any other new equipment that you’re going to need for your spring garden. Stay organized by making a list of all the important tools you’ll need before you start gardening. You’ll thank yourself later for being prepared!
2. Clean Up Your Garden At The End Of Winter
Your garden has gone through a lot during the cold months and can use a lot of TLC. After a harsh winter, there’s usually a lot of dead branches, flowers, and leaves scattered around. Cleaning up your garden is another important step to take right at the beginning of spring so your garden will be fresh and ready for planting.
There are many steps you can take to clean up your garden at the end of winter. Depending on the status of your garden and how harsh of a winter your area had, there might be extra things you need to do for your clean up. However, listed below are some of the main garden cleaning tasks to get done at the first sign of spring.
Spring Cleaning Tasks For Your Garden
- Clean up any branches and leaves that are lying around your yard and garden.
- Remove any dead annual plants and flowers – these won’t grow back this spring due to damage.
- Prune the branches of any shrubby plants to encourage new growth.
- Get a head start and pull out any young weeds.
- Remove winter mulch and any other winter protection you have on top of your plants.
3. Make Any Necessary Repairs & Updates To Your Outdoor Space At The Beginning Of Spring
If you want a beautiful spring garden, you’ll probably want a beautiful outdoor space to match. It’s easy to neglect your outdoor area in the winter due to uncontrollable weather; however, it’s crucial to start making reparations and outdoor home improvement updates as soon as winter ends. Getting an early start on this means you’ll save yourself a lot of time and frustration later in the spring.
Depending on the size and elements of your outdoor space, there may be less or more tasks to complete for maintenance and updates. Prioritize the most important parts of your space by first taking note of anything broken or damaged by the cold winter. Then take note of areas that need to be refreshed for the spring season. The maintenance and updates listed below will help you get started; however, it may not be an all-inclusive list depending on your personal needs.
Spring Maintenance & Updates For Your Outdoor Space
- Fix any damaged areas of your fence and deck.
- Repaint your deck and fence for a fresh look.
- Clean your outdoor furniture and/or buy new furniture items if needed.
- Sweep your porch and patio.
- Power-wash your deck and patio.
- Get your gutters cleaned, your windows cleaned, and your home’s siding cleaned.
- Reseal your driveway.
4. Get Your Lawn Ready For Spring
In addition to these outdoor maintenance tips for your spring garden, it’s also important to get your yard ready for spring. Having a healthy and thriving yard goes hand in hand with having a healthy and thriving garden. When the weather starts to get warmer, you can start working on your yard to get it back to its fresh green status.
How To Get Your Lawn Ready For Spring
- Rake up any leaves and debris that have gathered on the lawn during the winter. Make sure to wait until all frost has cleared up before you start raking to prevent any potential damage to weak grass.
- Re-seed any bare patches in the grass. Doing this at the start of spring will assure a flourishing yard.
- Aerate your lawn to allow water, oxygen, and nutrients to reach the roots of your grass.
- Fertilize your grass about 3 weeks after it turns green – the timing of this will prevent an influx of weeds from growing.
- Start mowing your grass when the ground is dry and the grass is long enough. Make sure to maintain your grass with regular mowing when it’s needed.
- Remove excess lawn clippings whenever they start to gather into a thick layer.
5. Prepare Your Soil For Your Spring Garden
After the winter frost is gone, you may be eager to start planting your flowers right away. However, it’s highly important that you take care of your soil before digging in and planting. Depending on where you live and the type of winter weather you get, your soil might take less time to prepare for your spring garden. But if you live in an area with snow and freezing temperatures, you’ll want to take the extra time and care that’s needed to have a healthy garden.
Listed below are some simple steps on how to prepare your soil for spring. Make sure to do additional research on the type of nutrients your soil needs based on the area you live in and the current condition of your soil. Taking the best care of your soil will assure you to have a blooming garden all spring long!
Outdoor Maintenance Tips For Your Spring Garden: How To Prepare Your Soil
- After winter, your soil will become compact, so start by loosening the soil. Use a tiller to loosen up the soil all the way to a depth of 12-14 inches.
- Next, you’ll want to test your soil for pH and nutrient levels. This will help you determine exactly what types of materials you’ll need to add to your soil.
- Finally, you can add a layer of compost to improve the soil.
- Note: if your soil isn’t in good health, you might want to use a raised garden bed instead.
6. Plant Your Early Spring Flowers In Your Garden
After you’ve taken all the necessary steps in preparing your garden at the start of spring, you can finally begin planting your flowers! Luckily you don’t have to wait too long; there are a large variety of flowers that you can start planting right at the beginning of springtime. Plan out your garden and determine which types of flowers you want to grow. Be sure to include at least a couple of early spring flowers so you can get a head start.
In addition to planting these early spring flowers in your garden, you can also start planting seeds in planters inside your house. Then when they’re ready, you can transplant them outside into your garden. This is a great way to get a head start on growing some of your favorite flowers so you can have a beautiful blooming garden by mid-spring. Check out the list below to find some of the best early spring flowers to plant in your garden once the winter frost ends.
10 Of The Best Early Spring Flowers To Plant
- Pansies
- Violas
- Daffodils
- Magnolias
- Primroses
- Petunias
- Tulips
- Winter Jasmine
- Hyacinths
- Lily of the Valley
Check out our selection of Live Plants & Flowers for garden inspiration!
Now that you’ve learned some outdoor maintenance tips for your spring garden, check out our Garden & Outdoors section to get started! Find live plants and flowers, garden tools, solar lighting, outdoor decorations, planters, and much more to fulfill all of your gardening needs.
