Tip of the Week: 5 Ways to Love Your Landscape this Weekend
With the snowfall behind us and nice weather ahead, the weekend offers a great time to launch the landscape season in your yard. Everything you do now will bring a great ROI for your efforts the rest of the growing season.  Here are five easy-to-do–and not very labor-intensive projects–you can do now to move the growing season ahead:#1 – Aerate the lawn. After the snow fall this week, there should be sufficient moisture in the soil to do a good aeration without applying additional water. Use a core aerator that pulls plugs of 3-4 inches in length from the soil. This process helps remove thatch and opens the root zone to take in moisture, air and nutrients efficiently.Pro-Tip: to learn more about the importance of lawn aeration, check out our Tip of the Week: The Grass is Always Greener.
#2 – Cut back ornamental grasses. If grasses were left standing to enjoy the winter interest they provide, it’s time to cut out the brown grasses left over from last year. If you wait until this season’s green shoots begin emerging, there will soon be a tangled mess of old and new growth and pruning the old growth will be much more difficult, not to mention more time consuming. #3 – Zap early-season weeds. Dandelions and other weeds are showing up and it’s wise to treat them before they go to seed and spread even more weeds. Make sure to use the proper product for the weed.For dandelions in the lawn, use a broad leaf weed control that will zap the weeds and not the lawn. Apply during the warmest part of the day per manufacturer’s recommendations – and avoid spraying in a breeze. Weed-killing products can drift onto other plants and harm them. #4 – Prep planting areas in the veggie garden.
#5 – Plant cool season crop seeds. They can be planted now without threat of frost damage. Seeds you can plant now include lettuce, spinach, kale, radishes, peas, carrots and green onions. Annual veggies such as tomatoes and peppers cannot be planted until after last danger of frost which is mid-May along Colorado’s Front Range and later at higher elevations. Spring is officially here – the weekend should be warm – get outdoors and enjoy the start of the growing season! |