“I’m cold and I’m done with winter!”

I think everyone has heard that statement too many times this winter. But, spring will be here soon and winter’s icy grip will be forgotten as warmer temperatures spur “spring fever”.

When the weather finally does warm up, the lawn and landscape work (including applying crabgrass pre-emergent, installing mulch and general garden cleanup) that usually takes place in the early spring will be 3 to 4 weeks behind schedule in Montgomery, Howard, and Frederick counties and surrounding areas due to the unrelenting sub-freezing temperatures and heavy snowfalls that have defined winter 2014.

Looking ahead, we encourage you to walk around your property during the beautiful early spring days and survey how your lawn and landscape has fared during the winter. You may notice deer have caused moderate to severe browsing damage on your landscape, including eating some plants that they don’t generally consume. The prolonged snow cover has limited the available food supply for deer and a hungry animal will eat whatever it needs to survive. Hundreds of hungry animals can devastate a landscape.

And, don’t be surprised if there’s damage to your lawn as well. Not only can salt runoff harm your lawn, especially near roadsides and driveways, but there are also damaging fungus diseases such as Snow Mold that are active in the winter months under the cover of snow. If your lawn or landscape has suffered damage from the winter weather, deer feeding, or any other reason, spring is a good time to make plans to repair your lawn and improve your landscape. Contact Complete Lawn Care for your free analysis and estimate.

PS – Don’t forget to order vegetable seeds for your garden if you haven’t yet done so, because it will soon be time to plant those seeds to get a good start on the upcoming gardening season.