With Spring right around the corner, we want to provide some direction to help you ‘de-winterize’ your house as well as spruce up your lawn and gardens so you can enjoy your outdoor space again as the weather warms up! These suggestions have the dual purpose of both aesthetic and functional benefits to keep the exterior of your house looking beautiful, and preventative maintenance can help avoid some long-term potential problems!
If you live in the Lower Mainland it’s important to manage how our weather impacts our homes, particularly when it comes to water. While the amount of rain we receive here keeps everything green, when it’s not managed correctly, water can negatively impact everything from our foundation, to our roof, lawns and more.
HOME
Gutters & Downpipes – Ensure down-pipes and splash-pads, all drain away from walls and foundation or into downpipes specifically designed to bring water away from your foundation. Also, clean gutters to remove leaves and debris.
Roof – Clean debris, inspect for lose shingles, inspect vents.
Hoses – Hook up hoses and turn exterior facets that have been winterized back on.
Debris Build-up– Check around the house to make sure that you don’t have debris such as leaves or soil pushed up against the side of your home. You want to have a 6” gap between the bottom of the siding and the garden bed.
LAWN
Moss – Lime for moss. You may also want to dethatch as well.
Fertilize – Fertilize as desired to help maintain soil and lawn health.
Top-dress – Sand and top-dress with organic soil to help even out your lawn surface, among other benefits.
Over-seed – Over-seeding your lawn will help it grow thick.
Everyone has a different lawn. Major impacts such as drainage, sunlight, type of gras and, acidity of soil dictate what your lawn needs to stay healthy. Understanding what your soil is composed of will help you provide what your lawn needs.
GARDENS
Mulch – Mulch gardens as desired, typically a minimum of four inches is needed to keep the weeds managed. With this amount of soil you might have to get clever as you don’t want to cover the trunks of any shrubs, flowers, or trees. Covering plants stems with mulch of soil can choke them out.
Bugs – Check for invasive bugs. There are many types of nasty critters out there that can do substantial damage to your gardens health. If you see larva or odd colored mucus on plants be sure to consult an expert. You don’t want nasty critters to spread to your neighbour’s property. Try misting the infected area with soapy water, this is usually a safe “step 1” in getting rid of invasive species.
Pruning – Trees and Shrubs benefit from a regular pruning and it’s important to ensure that they are not too close to your home. This will also help minimize leaves and needles landing on your roof.
Planting – Around Mother’s Day is the best time to plant annuals, prep your garden beds and give your lawn a boost. The fall is also another great time to invest time and energy into the lawn and time to plant spring bulbs.
While not everyone is game to tackle all of the above items, you can always hire professionals to help with some or all of your spring clean-up, lawn prep, pruning, etc. Regular home and yard maintenance, while tedious at times, are beneficial and can do everything from increasing curb appeal, minimizing the aging of your home, reduce long-term expenses and will help maintain the value of your home.
