The Full Yard Cleanup and Maintenance Guide

Full yard cleanup is a necessary evil. When your lawn is well-manicured and lush, it gives your home an appealing look. Home improvement tasks are usually one time jobs, such as installing new kitchen cabinets. A lawn, on the other hand, requires constant upkeep to ensure your family has a beautiful outdoor space. The lawn clean up guide will give you attention to detail tips to have a clean lawn.

Cost of yard clean up tools

For people who prefer the DIY route, you can easily cut the cost by getting the right materials and tools. The national average DIY landscaping price comes to $1,400 annually. This price covers gas for your tools and tune-ups for tools such as lawnmowers. The essential tools you will need for your lawn mower tools include:

Clearing tools – Cut down vines, saw the protruding branches and takes care of overgrown tree roots.

Hedge Clippers – This tool helps to maintain plants and shrubs and ensures they look beautiful.

Lawn Mower – It helps keep the lawn clean and beautiful; it is the most used tool.

Shovel – Helps to break and loosens the soil around the plant and thus allow better root growth.

Shrub Rake – Helps to remove dead plants and leaves from difficult to reach areas.

Trowel – It is the tool used for digging small areas and turning earth.

Weed removal tools and spray – They help to remove broad weeds and spray is used to ensure weeds don’t resurface.

Make sure the tools are sharp

You will prune much easier with sharp tools than dull ones. With sharper pruning tools, you will make cleaning cuts that heal faster. Before you start clearing away broken branches and dead wood, ensure your cutting tools are sharp.

Remove any debris

When trees start shedding their foliage, ensure you regularly rake as this helps to remove dead leaves. Such debris smoother grass and prevents it from growing. Organic waste, such as leaves, does, at times, provide a home for groundhogs and mice. Having little critters running in your yard can be a problem for your drainage. To keep leaf piles under control, you need to:

Use a tarp – Start by raking all your leaves into a tarp for more comfortable hauling. You can also blow leaves using the best leaf blower the market offers.

Rake into rows – When bagging leaves, it is better to rake leaves into rows than in piles. You can easily manage leaves into portions at the end of each row.

You can use leaves as lawn fertilizer – Why don’t you run your lawnmower over the fallen leaves before the snow starts to fall? This will shred the leaves into tiny pieces and make the shredded pieces settle into the autumn grass. These leaves will later decompose into natural fertilizer.

Cut out dead shrubs and trees

If you notice some shrubs didn’t grow the way you hoped, check for signs of life. Scratch the bark at the base to see whether you will find any green. If you find no green under the bark, it might be dead. When a shrub or tree is completely gone, it is best to cut it down. Ensure you dig it out before the ground hardens. Here are some tips for cleaning out dead shrubs and trees:

Cut the tree during the dormant season – Once leaves fall off during early winter and late fall, it is easy for an arborist to cut and handle. During the colder season, the hard ground will ensure shrubs and trees stay in place.

Don’t do it all in one day – You don’t need to rush your yard clean up exercise. Just as days go by, you should take it slow and avoid cleaning everything at once.

You should rent a dumpster – If you are planning a full landscape cleanup, using a roll-off dumpster makes it easier to dispose of debris.

Don’t stop mowing after the cleanup

Thorough yard maintenance is about enabling your yard to finish strong. The yard will be able to withstand the winter temperatures ahead.  It would help if you continued mowing and watering your lawn as needed. During the cold season, set your mower’s blades to the lowest setting possible. By doing this, it allows more sunlight to reach the crown of the grass. It also allows the soil to dry faster during spring.

Ensure you aerate the lawn

Aerating your lawn helps to alleviate soil compaction, beautify grass, and remove thatch. When your lawn has heavy organic debris, it deprives grassroots of essential elements. The growing season is the best time to aerate your lawn. Grass fills and heals open areas quickly when soil plugs are removed. Aerate your lawn using a gas-powered aerator, which makes work easy. If you have a bigger lawn, hire a landscaper to aerate your lawn.

Add fertilizer

You will have a great feeling when you know your grass is the greenest and lushest around. Accomplishing this fete is not easy and dictates you get some additional ingredients. Sunshine and water will not cut it, ensure you use fertilizer to help your lawn regain strength. Fall is the best time to fertilize your lawn. During this season, you can develop a robust root system. It would be best if you kept in mind that watering is optional after fertilizing. Water activates fertilizer and helps enable the feeding process.

Mulch around yard plant and trees

Mulching your yard plants around the fall season comes with great benefits. It helps to prevent soil erosion and suppresses weeds. Applying mulch during this season acts as a weed suppressant; you will have no weeds during spring. You should save money by buying organic mulches. Good examples of organic mulches include fallen leaves, grass clippings, and sawdust. These organic mulches help introduce essential nutrients into the soil.

Ensure you rake over bald spots

If your lawn is looking a little patchy, you rake over the bare spots. You should go to your local home improvement store and get an all-in-one mixture. The right solution will have a mix of fertilizer, grass seed, and organic mulch.

Finally, clean your tools when storing them

Don’t just throw your gardening tools and forget about them. Take your time and clean them and add a coat of oil to machinery to avoid rust.

Following the guide above will give you a green and lush lawn.

Resources – Dumpsters, Budget Dumpster, Safewise, The Home Depot