One of the moments I love is getting my yard ready for the summer. Why? It means that I get to be outdoors, doing what I love, gardening!

When I bought my new house, I loved my big yard but was overwhelmed. What do I do first? What do I have to prepare? On and on. Overwhelmed.

The Annual Maintenance Plan

Today, after owning it for a while, I have a system and am in a groove. I almost count down the hours until I go outside and play in my yard.

Winter up in the northern part of North America can be harsh. On the one hand, this very extreme weather helps you start with a clean palette every Spring. Very very cold temperatures “clean” the environment.  

And with that, once the snow clears, nature leaves behind branches, leaves, etc. But, if you are like me, I don’t remove all of my plants from the year before. The reason is that bugs get a place to survive and grow their young. It’s also good food for some animals that stay here for the winter.

And so, in the Spring, I go through a list of tasks that keep me busy outdoors – from basic things like topping up the soil to cleaning windows. Spring is the time to refresh your house and yard.

I’ve included my checklist of all my activities to get my house and yard ready. When I bought my house, I had NO CLUE what maintenance was required.   So I have used this basic list to help me keep it straight and stay on track. It has served me well for many years.

Hints and Tips for Getting Your Yard Ready

• Many of the activities are weather and temperature dependant. For example, you can’t dethatch your lawn when there is still snow on the ground.  
• Many of the maintenance activities build on top of each other. That’s because you can’t get it done in 1 weekend.
• And if I feel truly overwhelmed, I do some activities and forgo others. 
• This checklist matches northern climates where there is a hard winter. Folks may have to tailor it for communities that have much milder (aka no snow) winters.

It takes me a few months before I have it all cleaned up (because I can only do this work on the weekends). But even though our summers are shorter than in other parts of North America, I still have many weekends to sit and enjoy the fruits of my labour.

Bliss Reflections

Well, for obvious reasons, Spring gives people joy. But for me, I have realized two things: 1) Physical work in the yard and on the house is good for me as it works off my stress, and 2) my yard and my house are my canvas.  

As I wrote in my previous blog, I allow myself to express my artistic side through my renovations and gardening. It’s my outlet, and I have learned that to be a whole person, you can’t make work can’t be your everything.

As humans, we are more complex and have multiple sides and aspects. For example, since owning my own home, I have realized that I have to spend time in my garden or on my house and redecorating.  

And I get such joy when I can sit under my gazebo, sip wine, and be in my zen in the summer. My house and backyard are genuinely my soul place – where I go to get refreshed and reenergized. And in the Spring, it just means my place of zen gets that much bigger!  

The point of doing all this work and maintenance is that I enjoy it. And so, while the list is long, I make sure that I don’t just do but allow myself to “be.”

Bliss Hints and Tips

• For more details about yard maintenance, check out one of my favourite magazines, Family Handyman, for all the handy gurls out there.
• For an organic approach to caring for your lawn, check out this blog with some good options.
• And here’s a list that guides you through spring maintenance from the inside out from ”The Spruce”.