8 Tips and Tricks for Post Winter Backyard Cleanup

Are you ready for a post winter backyard cleanup? After a cold spell, the backyard often falls victim to the elements. Plants, lawn, sidewalks and decks can all benefit from a bit of tender loving care at the beginning of a new season. Here are a few tips and tricks to get started on restoring your backyard to all its glory after the final winter thaw.

1. Have the right supplies. You’ll need gardening gloves, a rake, a broom, large trash bags, fertiliser, garden clippers and shears. Have your fertiliser or compost on hand. If you have knee problems, invest in a gardening knee pad. Sunblock is a necessity, and a hat will come in handy as well. If you have a property with a lot of weeds, you will need your weed clippers or a garden spray and some weed killer.
2. Work from the outside in. Start with the outermost part of your property, close to the property line.
3. Rake and bag. Begin with raking and bagging debris along the perimeter of your property line. Once you have bagged and raked, you can weed and chop overgrown plants, if necessary.
4. Weed. Weeding under the sun isn’t the most fun task, but bring a pitcher of water out to drink if it’s warm outside. Use a weed trimmer on thicker patches of weeds or a spray on weed killer (don’t use this on a windy day).
5. Fertilise your vegetation. It’s best time of year to give your plants and gardens a nurturing dose of dose of fertiliser or compost.
6. Clean up your deck.  Clear any clutter or debris from your deck with a broom and inspect it for mould or mildew. For a good quality capped composite or aluminium deck, a good, soapy scrub is the best way to remove stains left by debris. This can be done with a bucket, a mild soap and a scrub brush. For uncapped composite and timber decks some extra maintenance like sanding, sealing and staining may be required.
7. Inspect all outdoor gates and locking elements for rust. Small patches of rust can be sanded off by hand while wearing work gloves, or you can go to your local hardware shop to pick up a chemical treatment to remove stubborn patches.
8. Inspect your outdoor plumbing. Make sure that your taps are functioning properly and all hoses and nozzles are in working order.