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Spring Landscaping Checklist for North Texas
After a long and harsh winter season, it is important to rejuvenate your lawn and landscaping as much as possible in order to ensure its proficiency in the spring. Below we have provided a spring landscaping checklist for North Texas homeowners to make sure your landscape is prepped and ready come springtime. From treating weeds and fertilizing grass to cutting back perennials, this guide includes all you could need for a beautiful and bountiful landscape in the spring.
Lawn Aeration
One way to improve lawn grass and soils after winter is to core aerate in the spring. Aerating your lawn, or core aeration, involves removing small plugs of soil from your yard. By doing this, you will improve overall landscape drainage and, more specifically, lawn soils to encourage deeper grass root growth. Lawn aeration can be done in the spring every 1-2 years or as needed. It is important to note that the biodegradable soil plugs deposited on the soil following the core aeration process should be left alone. The soil plugs will disappear in a few short weeks, and as an added benefit, they offer important nutrients back into the soil.
Cut Grass
Another way to prepare your lawn for spring growth is to begin biweekly lawn mowing again. It’s a good idea to bag the grass clippings during the first mow to help prevent thatch buildup. We recommend that you do not cut the grass too short, as unwanted weed growth can begin as a result.
Prune Trees and Shrubs
After the last North Texas winter freeze, which may change depending on location, make sure to lightly prune and shape trees, shrubs, and plants. Knowing when to prune and how to prune ornamental bushes and trees will ensure that they are fresh and ready to support new growth come the new season. You can also remove any dead branches or any that obstruct new growth, such as those crossing over other branches.
Cut Back Perennial Plants
Many perennials and other North Texas winter plants go dormant in cold weather and tend to wither away. In order to combat this and promote new growth, it is important to cut back perennial plants. This should be done after the last freeze of winter so that they have plenty of time to prepare themselves for the spring season. Most perennials are quite resilient, and even after being cut back, will still grow back efficiently.
Apply Fertilizers
To promote growth in the spring for your plants, it is beneficial to use granular fertilizers for plants, trees, and grass. When doing this, use a slow-release granular fertilizer, specifically one high in nitrogen to promote spring green-up. We recommend the Microlife hybrid 20-0-5 or Microlife organic 6-2-4 fertilizers for your grass.
Apply Weed Prevention
To prevent weeds before they emerge on the surface of your lawn, you can add a pre-emergent organic weed prevention application to your lawn. Make sure that the application is properly timed to effectively prevent weeds. We recommend using a slow-release organic granular 9-0-0 corn gluten meal. This corn gluten meal creates a physical barrier over the soil surface to prevent weed seed germination while the high-nitrogen content helps green up the grass for spring.
Treat or Pull Weeds
One of the most precarious tasks in landscaping and lawn care is eliminating weeds. You should begin pulling and spot treating them in your lawn and flower beds during the early spring. If you choose to treat your weeds without chemicals, there’s a horticultural vinegar available intended to spot treat those that have already come to the surface. The reason for using a horticultural vinegar is that it contains 20%-30% acetic acid over the 5% acetic acid contained in household vinegar solutions. When doing this, make sure to read all instructions carefully and wear protective gloves and goggles when spraying because this higher acidic solution can burn eyes and skin. As noted earlier, horticultural vinegar is a spot treatment for weeds as it burns whatever it comes in contact with. Therefore it’s important to spray it only on unwanted weeds and grass that you intend to eradicate.
Clean Flower Beds
At the start of spring, it’s a good idea to clean and refresh your flower beds. You can easily do this by raking and removing plant and grass clippings and debris from flower beds. Don’t forget to pull weeds and unwelcome grass invading those flower bed areas before planting fresh North Texas spring flowers.
Add Mulch
It is always a good idea to start off the new season with fresh mulch in your flower beds. You can do this by installing new hardwood mulch in planting beds as well as tree ring areas. The mulch should be installed to a depth of no more than 2-3 inches. Note that existing hardwood mulch does not need to be removed, as it is biodegradable. Lastly, it is important to make sure that you are not mounding excess mulch, especially around plants, trees, and next to the house foundation.
Inspect Irrigation System
Just before the spring season begins, check to make sure that your irrigation system is up-to-date and working properly. You can call a licensed irrigator to inspect your drip irrigation and sprinkler systems. In order to prepare for spring, your landscape contractor may adjust the irrigation timer settings, check drip irrigation lines in flower beds and around the foundation, and adjust sprinkler head spray patterns to ensure proper coverage in grass areas.