Home & Garden: Prepare your yard and garden for springtime

• Start cleaning up your lawn when the grass is no longer sopping wet and planting beds are no longer muddy. Rake your lawn to let light and air touch the soil and to encourage your grass to grow.
• Clear drainage ditches to make sure your garden and yard drain properly. Good drainage helps seedlings flourish.
• Reseed barren spots on your lawn by scratching up the soil with a rake and spreading a shovel of soil mixed with several scoops of grass seed over the spot. Rake it level and water well. Soon, you’ll have new grass.
• Remove any tree guards or winter protection from young trees and transplant any shrubs before they begin to leaf out.
• Get on top of weeding early. In the spring, weeds grow quickly and are easier to pull up from the ground, because their roots are just taking hold and the soil is often moist.
• Cover bare beds with 3 to 4 inches of mulch or black plastic sheets to prevent weeds from growing before you are ready to plant.
• Check your lawnmower blades, and have them sharpened if necessary. Sharp lawnmower blades cut better and leave your lawn healthier.
• Cut back dead perennial foliage and prune rose bushes before they start to leaf out.
• If a winter freeze took out some of your plants during the winter, replace the perennials as soon as you can.
• Cut back your ornamental grasses to about 10 inches from the ground.