Spring Cleaning Your Exterior Living Areas – Part I

bgIt’s time for spring-cleaning inside your house—and out! It’s rarely too warm during a spring day for working in the garden or yard. There’s always work to be done, so how can you go about knocking out the two most bothersome spring cleaning additions before the weather gets unbearable? Tackle shrubs and weeds now, and often throughout the summer.

How about those shrubs? Chances are by this time of year that they have long overgrown and become unruly, so how can you tame them? Rejuvenating shrubs isn’t too terribly difficult for the beginner landscaper. It just requires getting your hands dirty and manning some shears. When trimming shrubs, focus on clipping the sides and bottoms first making cleanup easier in the long run Vines and other weeds can be a real bothersome resident in your beautiful garden. They’ll strangle out other plans and steal nutrients from flowers and other hand-planted beautiful additions.

Identifying weeds can be very simple but also very annoying. Poison ivy often uproots other vines and can be a surprise when de-weeding your garden. Remember to wear gloves, long sleeves and pants to protect your skin from interaction with the oils from the leaves. Remove the weeds by digging them from the ground and pulling the entire weed up (including its root). Dispose of them by tossing them out into a trash bag separate from your composite pile and finish by thoroughly washing your hands with an antibacterial soap.

Wash the clothes in warm water and take a cool shower when rinsing off from weed work in the yard. These little steps add up and soon you’ll be able to enjoy a gorgeous yard with simple maintenance work.