Spring clean-up done in the wrong order means doing parts of it twice. This is the sequence we follow on Cherokee County properties, and the reasoning behind each step.
Start with debris, before anything greens up
Late winter, before growth starts, is the easiest time to clear a property. You can see the structure of every bed, there is no new growth to work around, and nothing gets trampled.
Clear leaf accumulation from beds and lawn. A heavy mat of wet leaves left over winter smothers turf and creates ideal conditions for fungal problems as things warm up.
Remove fallen limbs and storm debris. North Georgia winters reliably drop branches, and finding them now beats finding them with a mower in May.
Cut back perennials and ornamental grasses that were left standing for winter interest. Take grasses down to a few inches before new growth emerges — once it starts, you cannot cut back cleanly without damaging it.
Prune, but check what you are pruning
Pruning timing depends entirely on when the plant sets its flower buds, and getting it wrong costs you a season of bloom.
Spring bloomers — azalea, forsythia, rhododendron, oakleaf hydrangea — set buds on old wood the previous year. Prune them right after they finish flowering. Cutting them in late winter removes the flowers before they open.
Summer bloomers and most evergreens can be pruned in late winter before growth starts. Crape myrtle, panicle hydrangea and roses fall here. Prune crape myrtles by removing whole branches at their origin rather than topping them.
Dead, damaged or crossing branches can come out any time on anything.
Beds, edges and pre-emergent
Weed beds thoroughly before mulching. Mulch laid over established weeds suppresses almost nothing — perennial weeds push straight through it.
Re-cut bed edges with a spade. A crisp edge is what makes a landscape look maintained, and it physically stops mulch migrating into the lawn and turf creeping into the bed.
Apply pre-emergent while soil temperatures are still below the germination threshold — in North Georgia that generally means late February into early March. Pre-emergent prevents seeds from establishing; it does nothing to weeds already growing. Applied late, it is wasted money.
Then mulch or pine straw, two to three inches, pulled back off trunks and stems.
Lawn and irrigation start-up
Wait for consistent growth before the first mow, and take no more than a third of the blade height in a single cut. Scalping a lawn coming out of dormancy stresses it exactly when it is most vulnerable.
Core aerate compacted areas — high-traffic paths, anywhere equipment has driven. Georgia clay compacts readily and aeration lets water, air and nutrients reach the root zone. Warm-season lawns aerate best in late spring once actively growing.
Start the irrigation system before you need it. Open the main valve slowly, then run every zone and walk it. You are looking for broken heads, misaimed spray, wet spots indicating a line leak, and zones that do not fire. Finding these in March is inconvenient; finding them in July after the lawn browns is expensive.
Reprogram the controller for spring. A schedule left on July settings will drown a lawn that has not started transpiring at summer rates.
