Spring ahead with lawn and garden cleanup

Getting your outdoor space ready for the growing season is an annual task that is best started in mid-March through early April. Like with many other things, preparation is key to success in landscaping, as well. By preparing lawns and garden beds now, you can have lush and thriving surroundings in spring and summer.

Bob Bertog, president of Bertog Landscape Company, Wheeling, offers his tips on spring landscape preparation:

• Survey your surroundings. Winter, especially the snowy and stormy one we had, can leave a mark. Check the landscape and remove debris, including stray leaves and branches as well as blown-in garbage and leftover toys or tools from last year. Look for damage or cracks in patios, sidewalks, containers and other landscape features.

• Start with a clean slate. Prune damaged branches from trees and shrubs. If a dangling branch looks hazardous, call in pruning professionals to take that task off your hands. Sweep patios and pathways.

• Prep the soil. When the weather warms enough to soften the soil, turn it over in garden beds and containers and add peat, compost or other amendments that provide nutrients and foster plant growth. Protect "new" soil from temperature fluctuations during the notoriously fickle months of March and April by top-dressing the area with a thin layer of compost.

• Assess and organize your tools and supplies. If you are a do-it-yourselfer, make sure you have the right tools and that they are in good working order for the season. Take stock of spades, shovels, rakes and sharpen pruners. Just as you let the gas run out of the snowblower at the end of the snow season, make sure your lawn mower is ready to go in late spring. Once temperatures are consistently above freezing, re-connect outdoor hoses and find your watering cans and sprinklers. Buy potting soil, mulch, compost, fertilizer and grass seed as needed.

• Take a look around. While you are outside doing your spring cleanup, survey your surroundings with fresh-from-winter eyes. What plants or features would you like to add? It might be time for a new seat wall or fire pit for entertaining, or perhaps that raised garden bed to grow your own food.

• Get on the pros' schedule. If you prefer to hire professional landscape companies for spring cleanup and planting tasks, get on their schedule, which typically books up fast once the big spring thaw starts.

If preparation is half the work, planning enables you to enjoy the space when it is time to enjoy the great outdoors.

For information, visit Bertog on Facebook and Instagram, and online at www.bertoglandscape.com.