Today, I’m sharing my 10 spring lawn care tips for a beautiful summer yard. I have a secret to share. You know those yards that look like everything is perfectly in place? Maybe there’s one in your neighborhood. You know one, they have lush green grass, blooming flowers and pretty landscaping? Guess what? They weren’t always that way. Every yard has a beginning and those yards are just ones that have been nurtured. It’s not such a big secret that in order to have a beautiful summer yard, other yard care work needs to be done earlier in the year. These are the spring lawn care tips I follow to make my yard look fabulous in the months ahead.
This post is sponsored by Ryobi Power Tools. I’ve used and loved all my Ryobi products for the past 5 years. They fit well, are durable and I love that the same batteries operate my power tools and yard tools. In other words, I only share the products I love and use myself. Thanks so much for supporting the brands that keep H2OBungalow going. You can see my disclosure policy here.
First, let me re-share what I mentioned earlier my friends, every yard has a beginning. We are living proof and our beginning was U-G-L-Y. Our yard was one gigantic bush when we moved in. It grew almost to the house and up to the street.
Beautiful yards are nurtured and develop over time.
A few years ago I shared my DIY butterfly garden landscaping project with you all. Our yard and gardens have come a long way since then.
Now that I have mature landscaping and a butterfly garden I have routine work that needs to be done to keep it healthy. I’m sharing my garden routine and spring lawn care tips I use to make our yard and garden look neat and tidy as well as pop with vibrant color and lush greens in late spring and the summer. Later this week I’ll share a full garden tour with you guys.
10 Spring Lawn Care Tips for a Beautiful Summer Yard
1. Weed before roots establish. Weed now while it’s easy and before the growing season allows weeds to establish roots. Favorite tip – It’s super easy to weed a garden bed after it rains or a when the bed is well watered. Weeds with roots intact slide easily out of moist dirt.
2. Trim and prune trees and bushes. Here in Fl. we can trim trees and bushes almost anytime since we only have about 2 months of winter cold. Early spring, when plants are still dormant, is a great time to get rid of dead and dying branches and shaping greenery for the growing season ahead.
Ryobi 18 Volt Chainsaw
3. Think outside of the box. When it comes to yard-work, many outdoor lawn tools are good for more than one task. Of course our string trimmer is great for edging the garden around the heavy plastic boarder and neatening around hardscape. It’s also awesome for getting rid of weeds growing in between pavers and concrete seams. Favorite tip– We don’t use chemicals because we live on the water. We use a vinegar, salt and dish soap mixture to kill weeds in between pavers.
Ryobi 18 Volt String Trimmer
4. Mow before the grass is too long. keep grass healthy by not cutting it too short. Cut the Grass and leave the clippings to nourish the yard. Favorite tip – Sharpen mower blades now. The grass will look better after cutting.
5. Mulch or replenish mulch. Mulch helps conserve water and prevent weeds from growing. Favorite tip– I use pine needle mulch in my garden beds. It doesn’t blow away in the wind, is fabulous for controlling weeds and breaks down into the soil and creates nutrient rich soil that plants love. It comes in handy bales.
6. Edge for a crisp look. Give lawns and extra tidy appearance by edging driveways and sidewalks. Favorite tip – Make clean edges look extra crisp by using a blower after edging to clean out the space between the grass and concrete.
Ryobi 18 Volt Edger
7. Feed your lawn now. Add nutrients now before the growing season. Use a well balanced fertilizer like 10-10-10 or 6-6-6 to help your plants and lawn get off to a good start this growing season. I use Milorganite on my grass and in my gardens because it’s organic and easy to apply with a hand spreader. Favorite Tip– I use my Ryobi 18 volt sprayer to apply liquid plant food or my home-made weed control mixture. It saves my arms so I don’t have to keep pumping like I would need to on a manual sprayer.
Ryobi 18 Volt Sprayer
8. Clean up your trimmings. Use a blower like a sweeper to collect extra trimming and debris from your clean up. Finish by sweeping into a pile and discarding in the trash. Don’t blow yard trimmings into the street or down drains. Especially if you live near water where storm drains flow into open water. Yard trimmings and traces of fertilizer damage the ecosystem. Favorite tip – I use the small battery on my blower to blow just the leaves off of the top of decorative bark and shells in some of our beds. It cleans off the top and leaves the heavier stuff in place.
Ryobi 18 Volt Blower
9. Check your water system now. Check for broken sprinkler heads, over-spraying and heads that have been blocked by winter growth. Adjust watering for the season, our grass needs 2″ of water per week. It’s better to water deeply and less often.
10. Freshen up– Even perennial plants get tired or leggy after a while. Add fresh interest and color and plant as early as you safely can for spring and summer color. Favorite tip – Pick a color theme in your garden. I choose plants and flowers for my garden that compliment the color of my house paint. Bold oranges, yellows with a few bright pinks are wonderful against the blue-gray of our home.
Don’t forget to make your entry and walkway interesting and inviting.
Especially at the front door. I built this Mid-Century Planter Plant Stand last week. I’m loving the coor! Yes, I have a copper door. It’s actually faux painted.
Pin my spring lawn care tips for later!
I knew this year I’d have enough of a garden and mature enough landscaping to host a spring tour of my yard. I started working in my yard early this year using the same spring lawn care tips I shared today. I’m excited to share our front yard later this week! The difference from the before pictures and now are dramatically different!
I like sharing the not so pretty beginning pictures of where we started in our own home to hopefully inspire those of you who may have curb appeal or other home challenges. We all start somewhere. While my yard is far from complete in my mind, it’s come a long way.
Are you ready to get outside and tackle your own yard to make it the best it can be this season? What’s the first project you’d take-on? Share with me below in the comment section below!
Rya Lauber says
Hi! I just came across your blog while researching butterfly gardening. I live in St. Petersburg, FL, so we may be in the same zone (9)! I love your tips, and you’ve convinced me to get a Ryobi blower (on my Black Friday list). I love to garden and use hay all the time. I hope you’re still posting!
Wendi Wachtel says
Hi Rya!
Thanks so much for your note! Yes, we are neighbors. Have fun with your butterfly garden and share pictures with my Facebook group! You’d love them, everyone is very interactive…and yes! I am very much still posting projects and fixing up my home in FL and our vacation rentals in VT!
Ryan says
Behind every gorgeous summer yard is a lot of work and care. Those who feel overwhelmed with yard care should see your tips – simple and effective. My favorite is tip number 6. Couldn’t agree more – edging is like a face lift for any yard. 🙂
Wendi says
Thanks so much Ryan! I love a fresh crisp edge on a yard. It really does make everything look well taken care of. Thanks so much for your note and visit!
Eli says
Great post. Love the tips.
Wendi says
Hi Eli!
Thank you so much and I’m glad you enjoyed my lawn care tips! A little lawn care goes a long way in helping a yard look well maintained. Our yard has come a long way over the past 7 years! Thanks for your visit and comment!
Ivory says
Thanks for this post, because I plan to try and purschard one at a time until we own them all. I especially love the edger.
Wendi says
Hi Ivory! You will absolutely love all of the lawn tools. I like that they are lightweight and easy for me to handle plus the interchangeable batteries make them them all easy to use too. We’ve used the daylights out of the edger. I’ve had this one for about 3 years and wouldn’t do without it. The yard looks so much neater after a fresh mow and edge! Have fun with your new yard tools and thanks so much for your note!
Kelly Mahan says
Thanks for all the tips, and I agree that taking care of weeds should always be priority number one haha I’ve learned it the hard way.
Wendi says
Hi Kelly and thank you! Yes, I’ve been guilty of leaving weeds too long too. Once they are established …or god forbid, have reseeded themselves, it’s much harder to get rid of them!
Kim~madeinaday says
IT’s finally warm enough here in NC to get the plants ready for spring! Nice tips! Sharing! Thank you for sharing on Merry Monday! Hope to see ya next week!
Kim
Wendi says
Hi Kim! Thank so much for sharing my yard care tips. It’s pretty amazing that everything came together since I started with nothing but a weed patch a few years ago!
Reesa Lewandowski says
I am obsessed with the tropical look of your yard! We don’t have a yard unfortunately!
Wendi says
Hi Reesa and thank you! It’s been a long journey to get a pretty yard. While I’m not done with the projects, not by a long shot, I’m happy with the progress we’ve made! Thanks so much for your visit and sweet note!
Jonna says
We are working now to get our yard back up to par after the summer. These are great tips. Thanks for sharing!
Wendi says
Hi Jonna! So glad you like my yard and found my tips helpful! It’s been a learning experience trying to grow a beautiful yard from scratch. It’s awesome that what I’ve learned will help others too. Thank so much for your note and visit!
Scott says
So many of our neighbors cut their lawn too short. You can really see the different in the summer when theirs dries out!
Wendi says
Hi Scott! Oh my gosh you are so right. We have that here too and most of our local grass is St Augustine which doesn’t tolerate a heavy cutting. Thanks so much for your note and visit!
Melissa Chapman says
My husband likes to do our yard and right now it needs work but he assures me it will fill in. Last fall he put down fertilizer and it made it die in patches so I am hoping these will grow back. He has a Ryobi blower which he loves.
Wendi says
Hi Melissa… Oh no! I’ve done that before too, used so much fertilizer it killed the grass. Yikes, I guess we all go through it. I hope our grass grows back! I bet you guys do love your Ryobi blower! I love mine and use it all the time 🙂
Jeni Hawkins says
We just bought a house and looking to fix up our yard. I love all your tips and can’t wait to try them out!
Wendi says
Hi Jeni and thank you so much! Our yard went from the ugliest on the block to one of the nicest in a few years. Have fun with your yard, it’s definitely rewarding to see the improvement!
krystal says
My husband needs a new edger. That one looks perfect and functional!
Wendi says
Hi Krystal! I sense a great idea for a Fathers Day gift! We love our edger. That is one of the yard tools that my husband usually uses and he loves it. He didn’t want the “extra work” at first, and once he saw how fast and easy it was to edge the yard he loved using it. I think edging makes a yard look so well groomed so that made me happy! I hope you try the Ryobi brand, I think you and he would love it!
Sherry says
We still have a bit of snow that has to melt before we can tackle the yard. We get an abundance of weeds growing here so your tips will come in really handy.
Wendi says
Hi Sherry! Wow, you must be far north! Our town in VT still has snow on the ground too. Once the snow melts and waters everything I have no doubt you’ll have plenty of weeds. I’m glad my lawn care tips will be helpful to you and I hope your spring arrives soon as well!
Kirstin Troyer says
I can’t wait for your garden tour. A gentleman who came to our garage sale said he adds Vodka to his vinegar mixture to kill weeds…lol. Love this post and your tips. They’re awesome and even though you’re in Florida the tips apply anywhere. I like how it seems that many of the Ryobi tools are a nice size. We have these ginormous yard tools that take a lot of muscle. I’d love a few smaller, easier to handle tools.
Wendi says
Hi Kirstin and thank you! I’ve been having fun putting it together. You cracked me up with the vodka idea, I’ll have to research that one although I think I’d use the salt, white vinegar and soap formula and drink the vodka! LOL I highly recommend the Ryobi 18 volt outdoor line. I love them all, they fit me and my size, work great and I love that they are cordless using the same batteries. Thanks so much for your visit and note!