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Spring yard cleanup checklist
A spring cleanup clears what winter left: sticks, trash and plow damage first, then the leaves fall missed, matted under shrubs and along fences. Cut back the grasses and perennials left standing, weed and re-edge the beds, put down pre-emergent or mulch if sold, give the lawn its first mow and start the irrigation if you offer it. Go by the ground, not the calendar: a soggy lawn tears and compacts under boots and rakes.
Edit the spring list
In the order a crew works the yard in spring. Cross off pruning, mulch, pre-emergent or the irrigation start-up if this customer did not buy them.
Spring yard cleanup checklist
- Walk the yard: winter damage, plow hits, soft ground and dead plants
- Photograph plow gouges, salt burn, broken limbs and edging first
- Pick up sticks, fallen limbs and trash that blew in over winter
- Rake plow gravel back onto the drive; press torn turf back down
- Cut ornamental grasses down before the new blades come through
- Cut back the coneflowers, sedum and other stems left over winter
- Prune roses and butterfly bush; leave lilac and forsythia to bloom
- Beds: lift out the matted fall leaves without raking up new shoots
- Beds: pull the weeds that came through winter, roots and all
- Re-cut bed edges with a spade or edger; haul off the sod strips
- Lawn: rake matted and snow-mold patches lightly once it is firm
- Lawn: mark bare and thin spots for seed, topsoil or a repair quote
- Pre-emergent on lawn and beds if sold; skip any patch being seeded
- Mulch: top up thin spots, kept back from trunks and stems
- First mow on a high setting with sharp blades, once grass is growing
- Irrigation start-up if sold: open slowly, run each zone, check heads
- Blow off the drive, walks, patio and steps; sweep up salt and sand
- Debris out: haul it away or bag it for the town’s yard waste pickup
- After photos, then tell the customer what needs seed, pruning or repair
What does a spring yard cleanup include?
Winter debris picked up, the leaves fall missed cleared from beds and corners, ornamental grasses and old perennial stems cut down, beds weeded and edged, and the first mow. That is the visit most landscapers sell as a spring cleanup. Mulch, pre-emergent, shrub pruning, turf repair, aeration and an irrigation start-up are separate jobs. Name on the quote which of them this visit covers, because two cleanup prices mean nothing side by side without it.
When is it too early for a spring cleanup?
When the lawn is still soft. Raking a wet lawn pulls out crowns, and boots and mowers compact soil that is still thawing. Start the route with hard surfaces and beds, which can take foot traffic, and come back to the turf once it is firm underfoot. Ornamental grasses run the other way: cut them before the new green blades come up through the old stems, or you end up cutting both.
Some customers ask you to hold off on the beds, because bees and other insects spend the winter in hollow stems and leaf litter. A middle path that keeps the yard tidy: cut the stems and lay them loosely at the back of a bed rather than bagging them, and leave a thin leaf layer under shrubs where it smothers nothing. Ask when they book, and write the answer on the job sheet for the crew.
Should mulch be part of the spring cleanup price?
Keep it on its own line. The cleanup is time, and depends on what winter left; mulch is volume, and depends on bed area and depth. Folded into one price, it makes you impossible to compare with a cleanup-only quote, and you swallow the cost when the beds turn out bigger than they looked. Top up thin spots rather than spreading a full layer every spring, and keep mulch pulled back from trunks and stems.
Frequently asked questions
Can you put down pre-emergent and seed the same lawn in spring?
Not on the same spot with most crabgrass products, because the barrier that stops crabgrass seed stops grass seed too. Pick one per area: pre-emergent on the thick lawn, seed on the bare patches, or a product labeled safe at seeding. The old timing cue still works: put the crabgrass barrier down while the forsythia is in bloom.
Which shrubs should you not prune in spring?
The ones that flower on last year’s wood: lilac, forsythia, azalea, rhododendron, and bigleaf and oakleaf hydrangeas. Their buds formed last summer, so a spring cut takes off this year’s flowers; prune them right after they bloom. Most roses, butterfly bush and panicle hydrangeas flower on new growth and can be cut back early in spring.
What do you do about plow and salt damage on the lawn?
Rake the gravel back onto the drive, press torn turf down where it is still rooted and fill gouges with topsoil and seed. Soak the strips along salted walks to wash the salt down, then reseed what stays brown. Price the repair as its own line. If your own truck plowed that drive, check your pre-season photos first; damage you caused is yours to fix.