Elevate Your Garden Game— Expert Strategies to Ready Your Albuquerque Garden and Lawn for Spring – Part One

Spring is here, which means your Albuquerque garden and lawn is waking up from its winter nap. But so are the weeds!

As soon as the soil thaws out, weeds will start poking through the ground trying to steal water and nutrients from your plants. Don’t let them get the best of your garden!

Here’s how you do it!

Weed Control is Key

Lots of popular flowering shrubs like hydrangea, spirea, and crape myrtle bloom in the summer. To get the most flowers from them, it’s time to get pruning! Pruning now shapes them up and removes any dead branches so they can focus energy on growing lovely summer blooms.

Start by cutting out any dead or damaged branches. Prune to open up the center of the shrub and allow air and light to circulate inside – this prevents disease. Take out crossing or crowded branches too. The end goal is a shapely shrub ready to be smothered in flowers!

Hold off on pruning lilacs, azaleas, forsythia, and other spring bloomers. Pruning them now means cutting off buds that would become flowers. Let them bloom first, then give them a trim.

Feed Your Landscape So It Can Grow Strong

Just like us, plants need food to grow big and strong! Early spring is the perfect time to fertilize your trees, shrubs and perennials so they have nutrients to grow vigorously.

Use a granular fertilizer and spread it around each plant according to the label directions. The fertilizer releases slowly over time so your plants get a steady feeding. Proper fertilizing makes for healthier plants and more blooms to enjoy all season long!

Before fertilizing, get a soil test to see exactly what your yard needs. This way you can give your garden a customized feeding for maximum growth power.

Fix Any Winter Damage

This past winter was a cold and snowy one! Take a close look at your plants for any signs of damage from the harsh weather. Evergreen trees and shrubs may have dried out tips that need pruning. Heavy snow or ice can cause cracked bark and broken branches on trees that should be trimmed off.

Make clean cuts just above healthy wood when you prune winter damage. For perennials that got pushed out of the ground from frost heaving, gently replant them and water well. Add mulch too so they don’t heave again as temperatures fluctuate.

Repairing winter damage keeps your plants looking their best for spring and improves their health too. It’s satisfying to fix what mother nature broke!

Clear Out Old Growth on Perennials

When you see fresh, new green shoots emerging from your hardy perennials, that’s your cue to remove any old foliage from last year. The dead leaves and stems can harbor diseases if left in place. It’s out with old and in with the new!

Grab some bypass pruners or scissors and cut back perennials to just above the crown where new growth is coming up. Pull off any remaining debris. Removing tattered foliage allows air circulation and gives emerging plants room to reach for the sun.

You’ve prepped your Albuquerque garden for an amazing spring season! Stay tuned for part two of our spring clean-up guide. Get ready to flex your green thumb muscles and have fun making your yard beautiful this season. Happy growing!

What If I Don’t Have a Time For It?

R&S Landscaping is a local Albuquerque landscaping company that lives and breathes gardening. We employ expert landscapers who know exactly how to get your yard looking lush, gorgeous, and ready for spring. And they just love helping fellow green thumbs like you!

Our team offers all kinds of landscaping services like spring clean-ups, lawn care, planting, and more.