Taking residents for a walk around the block, enjoying the beautiful fresh air after the drudgery of winter can be a good experience. However, one notices that winter has taken its toll on our grounds as well. Debris from passersby and twigs can be seen here and there as one walks.
Along with picking up such unsightly items, we’ve gathered a list of some other things to be done to “spring clean” one’s yard.
A starting point is simply to take inventory of one’s yard and assess the situation. You may wish to check out your equipment to make sure it is in proper working order, that tools are clean and sharp.
Also, take a peek at your woodwork. Check for damaged or rotting woodwork, such as pickets, lattices, and boards. These can be scrubbed with a mixture of bleach, soap and water.
You may wish to mulch your soil to provide nourishment, provide moisture, and keep out weeds. You may also want to consider pruning trees, shrubs, and dead perennials. Spring is also a good time to divide perennials. It’s a time to clean up around plants and remove old mulch.
As was alluded to previously, you will want to pick up debris that has gathered over the winter, including grass, leaves, and even trash that’s blown in. Some of this can make good compost (not the trash, of course). You don’t want to leave piles of it lying around. Besides being an eyesore, this can be detrimental to the grass below and can also attract slugs and insects. Before raking up your yard, you will want the grass to be dry to prevent pulling out the grass, which can more easily happen with wet, soft soil. You’ll also want to avoid excess walking on the wet grass as this can also damage it.
You’ll probably also want to tend to your sidewalks and patios. If you have a dog, there may be areas to which they’ve added a bit of color and unsavory texture. Cleaning this up, in your case, then, is part of spring yard cleaning. Other stains and spots may also be present. A pressure washer is an option for more easily removing this.
When all this is done, with a little sunshine, your yard will be shaping up for the beautiful months ahead.
Here at St. Anne’s, we have a bit of work to do before this is a reality.
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My wife and I come to St. Anne’s two to three times a year to visit our daughter Sr. Christina Marie. We always enjoy our visits and are happy to have met, talked with and developed relationships with many residents and staff. We have found St. Anne’s to be much more than a facility that houses people. We have found it to be a very nice community.
I’ve often thought to myself that I could easily see myself one day being happy to be a resident of St. Anne’s. The sisters run a fine place and the residents are very friendly. The only bad thing I can say about St. Anne’s is that every time I visit I gain ten pounds.
March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb. But where did this common idiom originate? No one is quite sure.