Now that spring officially has arrived, along with some consistent warmer weather, residents should start thinking about how to prepare their lawns, patios and decks for the season.

Reporter Dorothy Schneider recently chatted with Jeff Freel, manager of Bellingers Professional Grounds Maintenance Inc., about tips to best prepare your property for the summer months.

Bellingers specializes in landscape contracting, tree service and patio or deck construction. The company is located at 4902 Indiana 25 in Lafayette and can be reached by calling 572-2241.

What are the first things people should do in their yard?

They would want to start with a spring cleanup. Rake out all the accumulated trash and leaves from the shrubs. Pick up sticks.

Now that it’s warming up a bit, you could begin with mulching. You also want to do a spring pruning, which on ornamental grasses you cut back pretty low. … You can cut back certain shrubs and other things that flower.

What about for a patio or deck?

Generally there’s not too much damage (from the winter months). Most of the brick pavers nowadays are very low maintenance and don’t take much. You may want to check for any of the sand settling and, if so, sweep in some new sand.

(For decks) — those probably only need to be resealed every five to six years. But look for any spots showing weathering and address it (as it comes up).

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What are some common mistakes people make early in the season?

They don’t replenish their bark mulch annually. They allow that layer to get too thin, and mulch degrades an inch or two each year. Or they go the other way and over-mulch.

You just want to keep two to three inches of mulch to provide protection for the roots. If there’s too much (mulch) then the water and nutrients don’t make it to plant roots. We also see some people pile the mulch up on their trees. We call it “volcano mulching” and it can be very detrimental to the trees because it keeps the bark dark and moist.

Another mistake is people need to make sure they get their crab grass preventer on the lawns by the end of April. Sometimes you can squeak it into May, but otherwise it’s too late in the season.

People often put the weed control treatments on too early and you miss a lot of the weeds that germinate later. We’re going to see some dandelions popping up in the next few weeks, but if you can live with them for two to four weeks longer then other things will germinate and you can take care of more at once.

How much does it cost to have a lawn service company help with some of the maintenance?

One lawn application can cost anything from $45 on up, depending on the size of the lawn. A spring clean-up, depending on the size of the property, can cost anywhere from $150 on up. We estimate based on the size of the property and how long it will take us to do.

source : www.jconline.com