A Spring Clean Up is essential for clearing any backyard nightmares you might have and brings a fresh start to the new season.
Spring Landscape Cleanup by Hometown Landscape in Burtonsville, MD
A Spring Clean Up is essential for clearing any backyard nightmares you might have and brings a fresh start to the new season. Hometown Landscape professionals are standing by and ready to help you get a jump start on your goals for your yard.
Landscape Bed, Leaf, and Debris Cleanup
With a Spring Clean-Up, the idea of out-with-the-old can help keep your landscape looking fresh and healthy. The latter days of fall and the cold, barren days of winter brought in varying weather and lots of wind and debris. A lot of what ended up in your yard might not even be from your property! Whether it is blown-out, swept, or raked, a good-looking lawn and landscape start with removing leaves, weeds, litter, old mulch, and fallen limbs. And while a property free from debris is a great starting point, this isn’t done for looks alone.
Landscape bed cleanup also prevents leaves and other organic material from rotting on your turf and in your flower beds. Rotting leaves can lead to mold and mildew. They are even a magnet for pests. A clean landscape bed also helps bring your turf access to sunlight and air circulation.
Bed Edging
Deep edging around plant beds is the same as adding a frame around landscaped areas. Our Hometown Landscape professionals are the best at producing a distinct edge between your turf and beds. Bed edging is a recommended vital step before beginning pre-emergent weed control and fresh mulch application.
A proper manicured edge will help hold back grassroots and weeds from creeping into a landscaped bed. It also makes mowing up to flower bed edges easier and dramatically reduces the risk of damage.
Pre-Emergence Weed Control
Pre-emergence weed control prevents weeds from sprouting in your landscape beds. It spares you the ghastly appearance of weeds appearing amongst your beautiful plants and flowers. Hometown Landscape helps save you the hassle of pulling weeds out your beds or applying herbicide on your own. We make sure that one pre-emergent application at just the right time keeps your landscape beds looking their best.
Grading
Hometown Landscape’s experienced professionals are experts at grading your land to prep your landscape for grass and plants or even hardscaping. Grading is also a useful tool to slope the ground to direct water to flow away from your property and avoid land erosion. If the water pools in areas of your property, the plants and grass can become waterlogged, doing damage to your landscape and even causing structural damage to your home or cause leaks. Also, the sitting water is perfect for mosquito breeding, so making the proper preps is critical at this stage of the year.
Fertilizing in the Spring
Applying fertilizer to your lawn seems to be a straight-forward process. However, many people use fertilizer too early in the season and sometimes are setback by frost inhibiting the growth they are expecting. Hometown Landscape understands this concept better than most. We will expertly add in the fertilizer applications to ensure your landscape in a position for springtime growth.
Other Spring Cleanup Tasks We Handle
Spring is also the time to deal with what winter left behind in yards in Burtonsville, Silver Spring, Olney, Columbia and nearby towns:
- Cutting back perennials and grasses: last year's dry stems come down before new shoots get tall.
- Removing winter mulch: mulch piled over perennials is pulled back once growth starts, so the plants get light.
- Clearing broken branches: we remove limbs bent or snapped by snow and ice. Plants that need more shaping can get shrub pruning.
What Makes a Spring Cleanup Work in Maryland
The University of Maryland Extension notes that winter damage often shows up in spring. Azaleas, hollies and boxwoods can brown at the leaf tips. De-icing salt can hurt shrubs near walks and driveways. A warm spell in February or March can wake buds early, and a late frost then kills them.
That is why we look before we cut. UMD says odd winter color on evergreens often turns back to normal as spring warms, and bare branches should be pruned only if new growth does not come.
Spring Fertilizer and Yard Debris Rules
Under Maryland's Lawn Fertilizer Law, the Maryland Department of Agriculture says not to apply lawn fertilizer between November 16 and March 1, or when the ground is frozen or heavy rain is predicted. Phosphorus may only be used when a soil test shows a need, or when a lawn is being started or patched. Keep fertilizer 10 to 15 feet from waterways. We plan spring feeding around these rules.
If you bag debris yourself, Montgomery County's yard trim program picks up leaves, grass and brush at the curb each week. Use paper yard trim bags, cans with a yard trim decal, or bundles, not plastic or grocery bags.
What Affects the Cost of a Spring Cleanup
Every spring cleanup is priced after we see the yard. The main things that change the price:
- How much debris: lots of leaves, sticks and storm damage take longer to clear.
- Bed size: more beds mean more weeding, edging and mulch.
- Extra services: pre-emergent weed control and fertilizing are part of the scope you choose.
We walk the yard with you, talk through these choices and give you a written estimate before any work starts.
How Our Spring Cleanup Works
We see what winter left behind, from debris to damaged plants.
We set a cleanup date as the season warms up.
We clear debris, cut back growth, edge the beds, and refresh the mulch.
We prep the beds and lawn so everything is ready for the growing season.
Recent Work
Talk to Hometown Landscape
Call 301.490.5577 or request a free estimate for Spring Cleanup in Burtonsville, MD and the surrounding areas. Our experienced local team is ready to help.
Frequently Asked Questions
When should a spring cleanup happen in Maryland?
Early spring, once the ground is no longer frozen or soggy and before new growth gets tall. Maryland does not allow lawn fertilizer before March 1 or on frozen ground, so we time that part with the weather.
Why do my boxwoods or hollies look brown after winter?
It is often winter damage. The University of Maryland Extension says these evergreens lose water on dry, windy days when the ground is frozen. Some of that color fades as spring warms up, so we check for new growth before we cut.
Should ornamental grasses be cut back in fall or spring?
Many homeowners leave them up for winter and cut them in early spring. Cut them before the new green blades grow tall, so the fresh growth is not trimmed off.
Landscape and Outdoor Living Across the DMV
Hometown Landscape serves homeowners across Montgomery County, Howard County, and the wider Washington, D.C. region with landscape design, hardscape, outdoor living, and outdoor carpentry from our Burtonsville home base.