What is Spring Clean-Up?

Cleaning up your yard in preparation for the spring season is as important as the spring-cleaning you do in your house.

Spring Clean-Up prepares your yard for a successful growing season. Dead leaves and other leftover foliage can suffocate your landscaping, and breed diseases and infestations.

Getting your yard ready for spring is a necessary process to ensure you have a strong start to your landscaping and planting season!

Spring Clean-Up services can include:

• Weeding – Begin your Spring Clean-Up efforts by removing weeds, fallen branches, dead plants and pinecones from your landscaping beds. Pull out last year’s annuals if you didn’t get around to it. It’s also important to cut back overgrown ornamental grasses and perennials. If the perennials have outgrown their spot in your bed, dig them out, divide them, and transplant them in another area.
• Pruning – Trimming the dead or damaged branches from your trees and shrubs caused by the cold winter weather makes room for new growth.
• Edging – Edging defines the shape and form of your landscaping beds. It keeps your soil and mulch in place and helps maintain clear walkways. Include your sidewalks, driveways, and patios in your edging efforts.
• Mulching – Not only does mulch make your landscaping beds look immaculate, it also allows for water and air to move through the soil. Mulch is an insulator, keeping the roots cool from the warm summer sun and reducing water evaporation - which means you have to water less.
• Planting – It’s fun to plant new flowers, bushes and trees to your yard that add color and balance. Be sure to leave plenty of space between what you plant to avoid overcrowding once it grows.   

If you have questions about Spring-Clean Up services or are looking for a landscaping company to do it for you, contact Blue Ring Residential Services at 614.633.6770, or visit our website at www.blueringresidential.com.

5 Signs Your Yard Has Drainage Problem

Spring is known for blooming buds, chirping birds and green grass. But it’s also known for rain, and sometimes lots of it.

Rain is necessary to the survival of our plants, bushes and grass. But it can also do lots of damage to our lawns and homes if it’s not drained properly.

It’s normal for your yard, landscaping and hardscapes to to be wet after it rains. But what are signs that the moisture is not normal?

Here are a few signs that may mean you have a drainage problem in your yard:

1. Standing water in your yard. A little sogginess after a soaking rain comes with the territory, but puddles of standing water could means the rainwater is not draining to the perimeter of your yard as it should.
2. Your lawn is mushy long after the rain has stopped. If a couple of days have passed and your yard is still wet, it’s not drying out properly.
3. There are puddles of water or wet stains in your basement or crawlspace. This is something we all hope never happens, but stains or seeping water in your basement or crawlspace can be the result of poor drainage.
4. Soil on your sidewalks or driveway after a rainstorm. This means the rainwater is accumulating and pushing the soil around, instead of draining away from your house.
5. Soil washed away from your foundation. Soil should remain in your flowerbeds no matter how much rain you get.

If you’ve noticed any of the five signs in your yard or home, the good news is it is possible to fix. The slope of your yard may need to be evaluated or you may need a French drain.

Please call Blue Ring Residential Services at 614.633.6770 for help with the water drainage in your yard. We’ll make sure the water sticks around just long enough to do its job, then has a clear route away from your home.