A 10-Item Garden Cleanup Checklist For Home Landscaping
Use the checklist below to ensure your home landscape is appropriately maintained and cleaned.
02/07/2021
Tending your garden all year long requires time and effort. Depending on the kinds of plants and flowers you choose to care for, they come with proper ways of watering, caring, and fertilizing. There'll be seasonal changes in between, which will cause debris, shrubs, and other organic matter that needs to be cleaned up. Whether you’re looking for spring, summer, fall, or winter innovations to improve your home landscaping, this blog post will focus on the right and practical cleanup session.
Home Landscaping 101
Cleaning up regularly will help with the upkeep of your beautiful garden. When it's maintained and well-cared for, you can expect to have flowers and plants blooming healthily. This will enhance your backyard, adding more aesthetic value to your home.
Use the following checklist to ensure your home landscape is appropriately maintained and cleaned:
1. Tidy Up The Yard
First thing's first. Tidy up your garden and remove dirt everywhere. Get your garden in order by clearing away dead branches and picking up trash accumulated through the season. Ensure that all garden beds are intact. Check all the pots and planters, including those hanging if you have a vertical garden.
Sweep up the brown and dead leaves that have fallen from trees, if you have some in the yard. Discard items you no longer need or may not be suitable for the upcoming season. Once garden trashes have been piled up, you can hire skip bins to make it easier and organized for a thorough cleanup. If you're looking for who to hire, click here to gather more information.
These mini skips can come in handy to make your cleaning session more manageable. Trash bags could tear up quickly, making you re-sweep everything all over again when they rip. With skip bins, you'll be able to rent them out for a while and use it for the entire duration you're cleaning your garden.
2. Prune Shrubs And Dead Branches
If cold, snow, and wind have damaged a tree or shrub branch, you can keep the stem alive again. The best way to do so is to use a handsaw as it could prune shrubs and dead branches effectively.
Pruning time is early in the spring. Besides triggering new growth, it also helps prevent plants disease. However, keep in mind not to prune too early, especially if shrubs have just started blooming. Don't cut them until they've finished flowering, or you may accidentally cut off all the buds. Here are some pruning techniques and methods you can apply:
• Deadheading
In gardening, the deadheading method means removing flowers from plants that have finished blooming. A faded flower is removed before it can set seed, which is an effective way to promote blooming. When spent flowers are taken out, the plant can bloom longer and produce more buds.
• Thinning
Plants with thick centres become more prone to fungal diseases like getting affected by powdery mildew. The problem with thick branches doesn't stop there since they don't live longer due to lack of sunlight because of their dense feature. With the thinning method, better airflow can come into the central part and the sun to seep in.
• Hard Pruning
In some cases, plants may become so overgrown if they're not pruned regularly. Hard pruning is necessary so they can be cut short to be able to live healthier again. However, each plant has its height requirement for cutting. Be sure to consider them first before pruning.
• Pinching
Some trimming can be done without even using handsaws or pruners. You can execute efficiently through the manual use of fingers. When it comes to getting rid of dead flowers, pinching is an excellent option. Aside from old plants, even those that are blossoming can also be pinched so you can control their growth.
• Maintenance Or Soft Pruning
Perennials that have completed blooming for the summer should be pruned for maintenance to remove dead or dying leaves. It gives the others some room to grow, allowing them to stand out.
3. Condition Your Lawn
When the winter has just finished, it’s the best time to rake up all the snow moulds, fallen leaves, and dead grasses from your lawn. A garden tool like a rake can support this essential garden cleaning task. Once the lawn is free from debris and mould build-up, it’s time to condition them starting from the soil up. Here are some of the things you can do:
• Aerate The Soil
To have a better soil quality on your lawn, the first important thing is to aerate them. A machine-powered or hand-held aerator can be used to remove soil cores from hard, compacted soil. Another option is to wear aerator sandals to walk around your yard and let the soil become looser.
• Decrease Thatches
When dealing with a severe thatch problem, take incremental steps to prevent damaging the lawn. Small amounts of thatch can often be removed by vigorously raking with a steel-tipped rake. However, if you feel like your lawn is suffering from severe cases of thatches, renting dethatching machines can also be possible.
4. Clean Up The Surroundings Of Plants And Pots
After raking out fallen leaves, it's now time to go into more details for cleaning your plants' surroundings and flower pots. Look out for dead foliage, pull the spent annuals, and see if all these can be composted. You also need to remove the existing mulch, so there'll be a cleared layer for a new one after planting.
Next is to check the flower beds and their borders. Make sure the soils are kept within the beds. Use a shovel and replant those becoming loose. You may also sprinkle some fertilizer on the soil's surface to give them more minerals for growth.
5. Prepare The Garden Beds
Ensure your garden bed is free of dead annual plants. Prune perennials once new growth appears. This is also an excellent time for dividing overgrown perennials since they must have sufficient space for growth.
Garden beds and planters should be dug up and all annuals should be removed. Like what you did on the grasses of your lawn, you should also aerate the soil of the garden beds. This will allow the soil to become less compacted. The soil quality can be improved with compost, organic fertilizer, or both. Keep mulch or bark chips on top of the roots to help keep moisture in and protect the roots as the plants get established.
6. Maintain Your Garden’s Hardscape
When cleaning your home's landscape, you should also pay attention to the hardscape. Especially after winter, there'll be some moulds and moisture that have been stuck in your pavements and decks. So, thoroughly look for them and clean them right away. Take note of the general condition of your patio and deck and make any necessary repairs.
If some soil or gravel has escaped their natural places, you can use a rake to contain them again. Sweep sand or stone dust into the joints between the flagstones, and then water the area to set it. Some pavers might have been removed due to weather, vital air, and other external conditions. You can replenish them to keep the hardscape looking great again. Get rid of slippery algae spots from patios and walkways with a pressure washer fitted with a low-pressure nozzle.
Here are some hardscaping materials and ideas to consider if you want to improve your home’s courtyard garden:
• Gravel
Gravel can be used for pathways and parking areas. Also, it can be used to cover bare spots in your yard to beautify them and limit weed growth. This is a cheaper alternative than going for other more luxurious kinds of pavers.
• Bricks
Bricks are often used on patios, walkways, and driveways, and they’re one of the most popular hardscape materials. They're classic and conventional, yet their versatile features allow them to look great even in modern-designed homes.
• Paving Stones
Driveways, walkways, and patios are best designed with paver stones, including flagstones. Paving stones come in different colours, textures, and designs, which fit well with any concept and theme of your home. Hardscapes like these also improve the curb appeal of your home and increase your home's value.
• Tile
Some homeowners prefer to use tiles even outdoors because it gives a sense of style and uniformity to the home's interiors.
• Concrete Or Cement
The ultimate downside of using concrete is that cracks develop over time; however, they're durable and long-lasting, which is the best fit for walkways and driveways.
• Patio
There are so many benefits to a patio, so it's an essential feature in nearly any landscape design. Adding a patio to your home allows you to enjoy outdoor living and expand your entertaining options.
• Walkway
Having a walkway as your hardscape has many benefits like saving your lawn grasses and reducing soil accumulating on your doorsteps or entry carpets.
• Driveway
One of your first landscape architecture elements should be the driveway as it remains most essential for families owning a car. You can use different hardscape materials mentioned above as they add appeal to your home. Also, guests can have a place to park.
• Garden Benches
Considering how many types and prices of garden benches are available, any landscape designer can incorporate them into their design. Benches make great outdoor seating and can also be set up in multiple areas to encourage conversation between guests. They're easy to install and effortless to clean and maintain.
7. Have Bird Feeders
Having functional biodiversity in your garden is essential. One way to do this is to choose the best bird feeders and ensure they're clean all year long. If you keep feeding a wide variety of flutter guests from season to season, don’t underestimate the importance of keeping the feeders clean too. Take them out, wash them well, and replenish them with fresh feeds again.
8. Get Into Composting
While you're cleaning and organizing your
garden, all the leaves collected as well as the
dead annuals and foliage can be turned into
composts. You can use a recycled container to
prepare your compost.
Add some dead leaves
and branches and prepare them by adding a
compost starter. Within two weeks, you need to
check on them to ensure their moisture while
aerating them through a pitchfork.
9. Repair Rotten Wooden Fences
Several factors can cause damage to your wooden fences such as the weather as well as wear and tear. To protect your garden and your entire property, you'll need to maintain the condition of your fences.
The wooden fences on your property need to be
repaired routinely. Understandably, this isn't
an easy task. Although hiring fence repair
workers are better, here are some DIY tips and
tricks if you wish to do this handyman job by
yourself:
Don't forget to use wood
preservatives before starting the repair. By
using the wood preservative, the rest of the
wood won’t get rotten.
Be mindful of the height, alignment, and
conditions of the rails. While installing the
wedge, embed several galvanized nails in it.
For maximum protection, caulk the tops and sides
of the repaired parts. Hardware stores and home
improvement centres sell galvanized steel
T-braces. Concrete and long-lasting repairs are
made possible by such braces.
10. Wash And Sanitize Outdoor Furniture
Take the time to rinse your patio furniture,
whether it spent the winter outside or in
storage. Furnishings exposed outdoors for
extended periods will accumulate a lot of
debris, dirt, and other microbes. It'd help to
pressure wash them before storing them.
After storage, it’s also good to make sure dust
and moulds are removed before they'll be used
and enjoyed by families and guests. After
pressure washing, you can also use water and
soap to ensure bacteria and dust are removed.
Conclusion
Your home's landscape is as important as all the other areas in your home. They need to be maintained regularly and have thorough cleaning between seasons. With this checklist enclosed in the article, you’ll know how to effectively ensure your entire garden and outdoor spaces will be kept well. Apply the tips you feel are needed to your landscaping and take advantage of a cleaner garden and an increased home value.