How to Prepare Your Garden for Spring

Late winter is the quiet window where a couple of hours of work sets up the whole warm season. Once September hits, everything grows at once — including the weeds.

Late-winter checklist

• Clear leaf litter and winter debris off the lawn so light reaches the base.
• Pull weeds before they flower and seed.
• Tidy and re-mulch garden beds to hold moisture through spring.
• Prune back anything that has become leggy over winter.
• Give the lawn its first proper cut once growth restarts.

If the yard has got away over winter, a one-off cleanup is usually the fastest reset before a regular maintenance schedule takes over.