Wave goodbye to winter with a little spring-cleaning — in your garden that is. I couldn’t have asked for better weather for doing just that this past weekend. Here are some tips for waking up your garden in the spring:

Do overseed your lawn and put some grass seed down. Spring and fall are the best times of the year to renew your lawn.

Do rake out your garden beds, gently removing all brown and dead leaves. It is great to remove all annuals.Do NOT cut branches of hydrangeas or tree peonies, as even though they might look dead and brown in March, they will bloom soon enough. They bloom on old wood, so you will have way more blooms if you leave them alone.

Do trim trees and shrubs. This is the BEST time of year to trim your trees back. I had the pleasure of trimming and training my pear trees behind my garage, flat to the garage in espalier form. This is their 3rd season in my garden, and it is a great way to maximize space in a smaller yard like mine.

Do cut back ornamental grasses and all annuals.  This is the best time for cutting back grasses.

Do apply a nice layer of compost. Your garden will more than reward you later this summer.

Of course I rewarded myself after I hauled a nice pile of dead and dried garden debris to my curb by…what else? Buying and planting pansies in my window boxes! The 10-day forecast looks great, and they can take it pretty cold. I felt so refreshed and renewed, you would have thought I’d spent the weekend at Sundara Spa! Not that there’s anything wrong with that…