5 Yard Spring Cleaning Tips
Spring cleaning is an essential step for homeowners. As the seasons change, it’s time to clean up your yard, preparing it for the coming summer. Follow these five spring cleaning tips to improve the outside of your home, not only in appearance, but helping to prevent deeper problems from occurring over the season.
Prune Dead Branches
In order for your trees and shrubs to grow new branches, leaves, and flowers, you’ll have to cut back the dead branches. Remove this so sunlight can reach your plant. In addition to this, rodents and other pests love to make their homes in these dead branches hanging low to the ground. Prune the plants, especially those that are close to the walls of your home, preventing pests from entering.
Check the Rain Gutters
After winter storms, it is not uncommon for rain gutters to be damaged, whether it is from high winds or heavy snowfall on the roof, it is essential to include your gutters in your spring cleaning. Without properly functioning gutters, water will fall directly against your home. Not only will this damage the foundation over time, water will also seep into your home, causing water damage. Take the steps to protect your home from this problem, checking to make sure none of your gutters were damaged.
Clean Up Flower Beds
If there are any leaves or dead matter still in your flower beds, clean this up. Allow your perennials to grow without being inhibited. Once you are fairly certain the cold weather has passed, start adding new mulch to the flower beds, planting your necessary flowers for the season.
Fertilize the Lawn
Over the winter season your lawn may have taken a hit, especially if you didn’t remove leaves on the ground in time. Ready these damaged areas for seeding. In most situations, April or May is the best season for planting these new seeds. In addition to this, fertilize your entire lawn, giving it the nutrients it needs to grow in thick and healthy.
Look for Cracks
It’s a good idea to get a thorough look of the outside of your home. The extreme cold temperatures in the winter may have had an effect on the structure of your home. Look to the foundation for cracks, the weathering strips around doors and windows for wear, and the roof of your home for broken shingles. Each of these problems should be attended to as soon as possible.
Spring cleaning the exterior of your home can help you discover problems and fix them before they turn into major issues. Protect your home from damage and keep it clean for the coming season.