October 25
Tip 1. Inspect Landscape Plants
Start by inspecting your plants, foremost among them trees and shrubs. Make sure spring rains aren’t causing water to pool around the base of plants, which can drown them. Check for signs of damage from pests or disease, and call a professional arborist if your trees or shrubs look sick, so you can take care of the problem right away.
Tip 2. Prune Trees and Shrubs
Depending on the specimen, trees and shrubs like to be pruned in spring or summer. You should remove dead branches and any that look diseased. Start by checking for new growth. Any branches that show no signs of development where others are blooming or leafing out are probably dead, and should be removed. Also check for holes, weeping sores or malformed leaves/twigs, which are signs of infection or pests.
Tip 3. Plant New Specimens
Spring is also the ideal time to plant new shrubs and trees. Do this early so the plants have time to get established before hot summer weather hits, which most plants find stressful. Mulch and fertilize your new plants to give them a fresh start. Now is also the time to fertilize trees and apply a new layer of mulch in the rest of the yard.
Tip 4. Care for Your Lawn…Gently!
A well-tended lawn is important for healthy trees. Lawns with a lot of debris on them for many months can harbor disease, which can be passed to trees. Therefore when spring arrives, it’s time to clean up the green. Pick up sticks and branches, gently rake up leaves and, if it’s dry enough and grasses have started growing again, do a light mow. The key word here is gentle, because until the ground dries out and firms up, grasses are susceptible to being uprooted.