As the days warm up here in Calgary, the urge to get a jump on the spring gardening tasks becomes hard to resist. However, as the nights can still dip below freezing, at Mirage Landscaping of Calgary we know it’s wise to exercise restraint at this time of year.
Winter takes a toll on your lawn and garden, we don’t deny that, but not only is the ground is not ready for your walking about, the tender beginnings of new grass shoots, and any other plants awakening to spring, are not ready for your rake either.
The Best Time For Spring Clean-Up
If you cannot wait for consistently warm days and non-freezing nights to begin cleaning up after winter and spring clean-up duties, you may find yourself doing more harm than good in the long term. Do your best to stay off your lawn as much as possible while things warm up and dry off. The main danger of walking about in your lawn and garden while the soil is too moist, and the ground is too spongy, is excess soil compaction, which can not only make your lawn lumpy where you walked prematurely, but can retard or stop the new growth of your grass. Compaction may also lead to more dead grass than you may otherwise have faced that make your grass look less vital.
Raking your grass out too early will pull up protective thatch, and you will also tend to uproot new tendrils of grass too. Damaging new growth can lead to your lawn looking like a green patchwork quilt later in the year.
Wait until it has been above zero at night for at least a couple weeks before attacking your grass. It will be strong enough to stand a good raking, and the ground perfect for the benefits of aeration and fertilizing.
What You Can Do Now
If your shrubs aren’t yet budding, you can certainly prune them. Depending upon the type of tree, it’s not too late to prune them either. Also do your best to leave mulch and ground cover down until the nights have warmed up above zero, but on warm days you can remove it for the sunshine. You will need to put it back before nightfall, though, if a frost is in the forecast.
If you feel like you need to do “real” gardening in April, we suggest assembling starters for later transplant. Plant trays that don’t weigh too much to move about that you can put outside during the day and then shelter overnight. If that is too much effort, the temperatures have mostly moderated enough that a sheet or burlap covering should provide enough protection.
Commercial and Residential Landscaping Services by Mirage
For a lush summer lawn, it’s always a good idea to hire a professional firm, like Mirage Landscaping of Calgary, to come by and power rake the dead thatch out of your healthy grass. By early to mid-April it’s usually warm enough to do so.
Another project that can happen very soon is the installation or maintenance of underground sprinkler pipe. Before everything is in full bloom is the easiest time for installation.
Contact Mirage Landscaping for a free quote on any commercial or residential spring project you have.
