Cleanliness is Next to Divine

Are you excited? We bet you're looking forward to all the beautiful things you're going to do with your landscape in the next few days and weeks. You want to add beautiful flower gardens, plant trees , and grow veggies! You may be already looking ahead to summer barbeques and all the gatherings you'll have on your hardscaping! But slow down, Kansas landscapers! We're excited about adding the new too, but first, let's Spring clean up all the old. Winter can leave a mess, and to truly enjoy Spring and take advantage of Summer, we need to leave Winter behind. Here's why Spring cleanup matters so much.

The Mess Can Keep Your Plants from Thriving

We all know that plants can be messy. It's counterintuitive because it's not as if they move around causing a ruckus, but their life cycles mean they shed constantly. For example, flowers bloom and shed their spent blossoms, and trees drop their leaves throughout the year (though most dramatically in fall). The Winter may accelerate that process. Winter storms blow off parts of already struggling plants. Snow and ice weigh down branches and break them off. So when Spring hits, and the snow melts, you may find that your yard is a little messier than expected. That's a problem.

Blocking the Good

All that plant litter that covers your ground has a practical effect on your grass and other ground covers. It gets in the way of what nourishes them. Sunlight and water can't penetrate the leaves and other plant debris that lays atop your lawn.

Trapping the Bad

In addition to preventing your grass and other plants from getting what they need, plant debris also traps moisture. When water gets under the leaves that lay on your lawn, it can't evaporate. This can lead to mold, fungus, and plant diseases.

It Lowers Your Curb Appeal

The other thing about messes is that they're messy! That's a silly way to say that when your property doesn't look neat, it affects your curb appeal. Even if it's unfair, people make judgments based on appearances. For example, if your lawn is a little overgrown, or covered with dead plants, people get the impression that you don't care about your property. That leads to a poor first impression. It also has the more tangible of lowering property value! There's a reason why realtors put the most focus on how your home looks from the road.

Spring Cleanup Makes Room for New Plants

We started this blog by expressing the near-universal excitement that new flowers blooming and planting new gardens brings to homeowners and landscapers. But if your yard is full of stuff you don't want and won't grow, you have no room to plant anything new! Part of Spring Cleanup is garden bed cleanup. In addition to the debris, we'll also remove dead plants. Annuals only last a season, so we expect a certain amount of turnover. In addition, even perennials aren't necessarily immortal, and a harsh winter may take some out. So part of the cleanup is taking out the plants that died. Once the dead plants are gone, we can fill the space they leave behind with new life!

Pruning and Trimming Make Your Plants Healthier!

Finally, even your living plants can use a minor cleanup. For example, your lawn may have lost some grass over the Winter, and your flowers, shrubs, and trees could use a checkup too.

Prevents Disease Spreading

Removing the dead or sick parts of plants is good for those plants. It prevents the disease from spreading. It also allows the plants to stop sending energy to the parts of the plants that aren't likely to recover. Beyond that, sick plants can attract pests and spread disease to the plants around them.

Stimulates Growth

Trimming off the edges of your shrubs and trees can also stimulate growth. Of course, the dead parts have no reason to be there, but even the edges could use a trim-up. Even your grass needs a little extra care. We start the season by removing the first few inches that protected your roots during the Winter. We also aerate and overseed to create new growth.

Spring Cleanup is a Dirty Job, but Divine is Happy to Do It

Cleaning up takes a lot of time and attention to detail. So it pays to have someone who understands your landscape fully and will pay attention to keeping it healthy. They say cleanliness is next to godliness, so who better handle your Spring cleanup than Divine?