Your Complete Checklist for Spring Landscape Planning

When to Start Preparing for Spring in the Washington, DC Area

All across the DC Metro area, we see trees, shrubs, and flowers beginning to bloom. With the first day of spring just a month away, now is the ideal time to start planning what you want to do with your yard! Whether you’re looking to redesign and start fresh, or just looking to maintain what you already have, getting a headstart on yard care will pay off. From shrubs, trees, and turf, it’s confusing to know where to start! Make sure your landscape has everything it needs to thrive this spring and throughout the upcoming hot summer months by following our monthly spring landscape guide below.

Why It’s Better to Plan Earlier, Rather than Later

Here at RTEC, we believe that prevention is critical. Waiting until our trees and shrubs are showing signs of illness to start tending to them can be a death sentence for some plants. The sooner we give them the care they need, the healthier and happier they will be! And more often than not, it is more expensive to fix a problem than it is to prevent it. So, it is important to know the best landscaping practices to follow throughout the season!

How to Break Down and Prioritize Landscaping Tasks

Much like spring cleaning around the house, cleaning up your yard can be overwhelming. Where should you even start? What should you prioritize? And just to make things more complicated, plants tend to awaken from dormancy at different speeds, meaning we must constantly monitor our yards for changes. Luckily, we’ve taken out the tedious planning for you! Follow our month-to-month landscaping guide for a smooth spring!

RTEC’s Spring Landscaping Checklist

March Landscape Tips:

• Apply bio-stimulants to your trees to give them the boost they need to combat diseases and insects while having a beautiful and healthy spring.
• Inspect shrubs and trees for post-winter damage, safety issues, and early-season pests. Look for leaf discoloration, dead branches, and early leaf drops.
• Rinse out salt from the soil. If you have trees near sidewalks, roads, or other places where de-icing salt is used over the winter, ensure you irrigate them well. Proper irrigation will help rinse the de-icing salt from the soil, preventing root damage.
• Tidy up fallen leaves and branches that remain from winter. Many pests and diseases overwinter in leaf litter and can reinfect your plants in the spring!

April Landscape Tips:

• Begin preventative treatment for diseases and insects.
• Prune your trees. Have broken and hanging limbs or other defects pruned from the tree.
• Plant new trees. Remember to plant them where they will thrive. Pay close attention to sunlight, soil composition, and proximity to power lines and structures.

May Landscape Tips:

• Replace old mulch. This will help retain moisture, promote soil activity and nutrients, and control pests.
• Spray for mosquitoes. With mosquitoes-borne diseases, it’s vital to protect your family and landscape.
• Treat your Ash trees to Emerald Ash Borer (EAB). EAB is the most destructive pest America has ever combated. Approximately 95% of Ash trees in America will be killed without treatment. Find your tree’s statistics and treatment options on our Emerald Ash Borer Treatment Site.

RTEC’s Landscaping Resources

With a Canopy Protection Program, our Environmental Specialists will be on your property all throughout spring and summer to treat for pests and diseases. You can guarantee your lawn will be lush and beautiful all season long! We even offer a unique form of mulching – vertical mulching – to enrich the soil around your trees.

No matter which you choose, your yard will thank you!

Have Questions? We’re Here to Help