What spring care should I be doing right now for my lawn and garden?
September 13, 2009 by Builder Wong
Filed under Garden & Landscape
I only paid for the residence in Chicago with the behind behind yard grass as well as long-lived garden, it’s starting to get warm, as well as this is my initial open in assign of any kind of landscaping alternative than mowing. So what should we be you do right right away for the lawn? Applying weed killer? Seeding? as well as what about the perennials? Do we need to do anything to have certain they come behind healthy? And when would be the great time to begin planting annuals? Thanks in allege for your help.
I don’t know about the lawn, but you could try clearing perennial beds by raking or pulling any dead leaves, such as around iris or daylily. I would say prune any obviously dead wood on shrubs or trees, but since this is your first year it’s best to let that go, so you can let things leaf out before assuming they’re dead.
Some perennials may be over-crowded and need division, but again, I would hold off first year to see how well they bloom. They might surprise you.
If you have ornamental grasses, they definitely should be cut now, before new growth starts. Cut low to the ground. This is all they need, one early spring trimming.
Similarly, some perennials like sedum Autumn Joy should have their tops trimmed soon, because the new green rosettes are already popping (I live in zone 5).
General flower bed cleanup is recommended in spring, so once you’ve raked out leaves you may want to refresh any mulch. Just watch out for tender new shoots, or maybe bulbs popping up.
The first year in a new place is a time for discovery, identifying what you have and learning how to care for it. Have fun!
well I live in zone 6 I just put down weed and feed. you can plant perennials anytime after the ground unthaws and I always wait until the beginning of May to plant annuals incase of a late frost. To make sure your perennials come back healthly all you really have to do is use plant food on them once every week.
Welcome to home ownership! It’s a blast and I love working in the yard! We’re on the East coast, so our grass is a little different being in the transition zone at times and you’re in the mid central zone. Since your winter weather is VERY cold you’re probably using Tall Fescue grass, but I could be wrong. It’s green all year round and can handle the cold.
It’s difficult to tell what stage your grass is in right now without more information, does it have weeds or crabgrass, is there shade, a slope, how is the soil (rocks, etc)? If your lawn is in decent condition with only a few weeds and no crabgrass you can get the hose end sprayer weed killer from Home Depot or Lowes, but YOU CAN’T plant new grass while killing the weeds. The weed killer will not let the seed grow.
Scotts seems to have a good product and even the Home Depot brand (Vigoro) is good. Once the lawn is established I’ve used the Lesco products bought from Home Depot and had good success. They also have a handy little chart there that will tell you what fertilizer to use on your type grass and when to use it. Very helpful and you can’t go wrong. Again, we’re on the East coast so I’m not sure how your local Home Depot compares to ours.
Home Depot info:
http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ContentView?pn=Fertilizers&langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10
Lesco:
http://www.lesco.com/?PageID=63
http://www.lesco.com/?PageID=48&CID=1
http://www.lesco.com/?PageID=61