All Neat and Tidy!
So the landscapers came last week and completed the spring cleanup. When I returned on Friday everything was neat as a pin.
I like the convenience of having someone else finish the clean up, especially since April and May are very busy months at work. Plus it gets done so much faster. No doubt many of the neighbors breathe a sigh of relief that my front garden no longer looks like a vacant lot.
Also, I like the fact that they grind up all the plant debris. Still, I feel a slight pang of regret at not having done it myself. Kind of like the busy professional who missed their kid’s school play. I realize that many of the stems may still contain insect eggs, so I take about one third and scatter them in the Thicket Corner.
In other spring developments, there are still Crocuses blooming.
And the very first Daffodils are opening in the Parkway Border, which gets the most sun. These are from the Colorblends mix, so I don’t know the variety.
More Hellebores are blooming. This is the only one that doesn’t have maroon flowers. I like the purple freckles.
And finally, the Forsythia is in bloom. It’s looking a little more robust than last year but still not what I hoped for, which was a splendid fountain of yellow. I’ll give it a few handfuls of compost later in the month, and keep working on the shape.
Are you done with spring cleanup, or just beginning?
gardeninacity 
It supposed to be in the high sixties this weekend. Lots of garden cleanup plans!
Enjoy!
Garden clean-up always makes me feel great, and it doesn’t matter who does the hard work; now the garden is ready to perform! Love the freckled hellebore!
Thanks! Garden clean-up is certainly a mood booster!
Just beginning, but the rain is what is really slowing me down.
It’s been a rainy April, hasn’t it?
We are about 2/3 of the way through, I think you had the right idea though, get someone in to do it! Nice to start the flowering year with a clean slate, it can only get better from now on.
The last third is usually the fastest, or it always felt that way to me because the garden is mostly cleared.
We’ve done most of our clean-up now – we had a spell of good weather making it easier, but which also meant the Early Harvest tulips went over quickly. You’re only a couple of weeks behind us now it seems!
It’s a really good work Jason. I hope to start cleaning my garden next weekend, now some snowy spots stay in the corners. But flowers bloom on sunny places.
Lovely to see your early spring flowers as we go into autumn…a good reminder to me of what is to come… Great clean up done by the way.
I thought I heard a sigh of relief from up your way. Don’t feel guilty about having someone else clean up your garden. You work hard, you deserve some help. My garden is cleaned up. With a February that felt like April and a March that was warm too a lot was accomplished early on. Of course i have loads of chores that need be done and projects I want done. Lovin this time of year.
It is still raining here. I think I need a wetsuit to work outside. What little lawn I have needs to be fertilized for spring right now, but it is too wet to walk on. Itis supposed to be nice this week-end, so maybe I can clean up then.
I managed to get in one day of cleanup yesterday. It was gloriously spring-like. Unfortunately, we are expecting more snow today. But, finally, some crocuses, hyacinths, and tulips are emerging. No daffs yet–I hope I don’t have my own daffodil disaster.
No cleanup here yet because I’d need snowshoes to reach a good portion of my beds. 🙂 Your gardens looks wonderful, and I wouldn’t feel one minute of guilt in having help. 🙂
I’m with Judy. All our beds are buried beneath snow, and I wouldn’t feel a minute of guilt in having help with my gardens. And remember, you are supporting the local economy when you hire people to clean your beds. Can’t outsource that job 😉
Just beginning, I’m afraid – Mother Nature hasn’t been cooperative as it’s been raining for the last couple of days.
A bit of fresh snow still on the ground here…it will be a while yet before I start.
But then you have those beautiful mountains! We are flatlanders here.
Three weeks ago we had one day that was eighty degrees. Today it has snowed three inches. The lilacs started budding and then the freeze hit. Probably will not have any lilac flowers this year. This is tyical weather for our part of the country.
Oh, that’s terrible about the lilacs! The frost here was not bad enough, or the buds didn’t come out enough, for there to be any damage here.
I am probably about halfway through with my cleanup. I have two big yard waste bins, but they only get collected every other week, which makes for slow going. It’s also hard to get it done while it’s raining so much, and still cold (temps in the 40s and low 50s). I need a crew like yours that won’t just mow everything down and can be trusted not to trample things. I did a lot over the weekend, but now I’m aching, and taking a rest, even though the weather is nice today.
It’s very hard to find someone you can trust to do work in the garden.
We are about 2 months a head of you! It is always good to get crew in to do the big clean up and save your energy for planing and planting! Happy Spring!
It’s good if you can trust them not to mess up all the bulbs and other young emerging plants.
I wish I could get such help. My back tells me I did just enough.
We have too much snow on the ground to even think about it, but it’ll happen eventually.
It’s nice to see the flowers!
Yes, it is!
Send ’em over to my place! Looking good.
I was trying to sort the front garden today and felt utterly overwhelmed…I actually considered hiring help for the first time ever. Bring it on I say. Your guys have done a fantastic job, now you can get on with the busy months without struggling to do the garden as well. Good to see you got daffs after all, love that freckled Hellebore.xxx
Spring cleanup can be overwhelming, especially if you have lots of beds and borders. I am enjoying the daffs that did survive.
Wow, looks nice. It’s good to hear you’re coping so well with the guilt of missing all that bending and raking and trimming. I’m maybe halfway done with cleanup and only then am I allowed to start moving stuff around. Maybe I should just go for a more natural look and move right on to the fun stuff!
Moving right on to the fun stuff is an appealing idea but I find that no matter how natural your garden style, there’s no getting around spring clean up.
Yay, lovely–spring has sprung! It also has done so in Oregon, and everything is gorgeous. I am so pleased the grey rainy days we have had for months are petering out again, though I also like our wintry rains–keeps all so green. But my neighborhood has really spectacular private gardens so what a pleasure to mosey about more. (I do not have a yard anymore–apt. living sure has downfalls but pluses, as well–like no clean up anymore–but also no blossoms of my own).
So glad the sun has returned to Oregon. I remember many wonderful private gardens from our last visit there.
Yes, they seem to thrive, thus abound. 🙂
Another advantage to hiring the spring clean up is you don’t get delayed by rain, rain, rain. I still do my own spring clean up, but there are lots of other potentially DIY projects that I farm out to local businesses. I figure I am helping the economy by spending my money.
Looks great! Some years I get my granddaughter to help me with the clean-up, but she’s so busy with volleyball that this year I’ve been doing it all myself. I usually work just a few hours at a time, so there is still a little to do. With all the rain we’ve had the last two days, it may be awhile longer:)
For me I have to cram it all into the weekend which can be a challenge. Another reason I went with hired help.
We still have quite a bit of snow on the ground here in Maine, but it is steadily melting. One of my flower beds is now completely snow free and two others are well on their way. Tomorrow, I’m going to go out and clean up the one that no longer has snow. I’ve been going out to walk around the garden each day to see what’s emerging from under the snow. I’m eagerly anticipating the display of crocus blooms on a hillside where I planted 300 bulbs in the fall, but that part of the garden is still under snow.
300 Crocus bulbs! That sounds glorious!
Following Doug Tallamy, Rick Darke, Heather Holm, and Xerces Society’s advice (as well as years of being a butterfly gardener), I don’t too much spring clean-up–maybe move some stems fairly late in the season to a brush pile in the back yard in case there any overwintering native bees that are in stems. The leaves, etc., decompose and help create great soil, and this way I know I’m preserving butterflies that overwinter, lady bugs, firefly larvae, etc., and all kinds of other beneficials. It is tricky in a front garden though, but I deal with it through late March and early April. These are “ugly duckling” months. I keep in mind that things will be up and green and flowering soon, and no one will see leaves and stems any longer. I don’t have to buy mulch or worry about weeds either. All of the migrating birds that are ground foragers love my yard since they will find quite a bit to eat in the leaf litter. Some birds prefer bare stems to perch on as well. I do move heavy layers of leaves off plants if needed though.
Still working on garden bed cleanup here. The brush pile has been burned, and seeds have been started under lights and on heating mats. Our forsythia did unusually well this spring with lots of blooms. The cherries and plums have just started blooming.
Our Forsythia is still blooming. Would love to see your fruit trees in bloom.
i’m green with envy! Last fall I decided to only do a light leaf cleanup (was simply not up to the required 50-60 bagsful of(**$#@! oak leaves) and leave them till now when at least the weather would be getting progessively better instead of worse. As a result I now have an Areas to Clean Up list of 23 separate sections, and that’s AFTER I did two in the front yard and severely pruned 5 overgrown shrubs including the Killer Viburnum. I figure that at my current rate of completion I should finish somewhere around Memorial Day…or Independence Day!
Oh, dear! May the force be with you.