Part of buying a home is being able to personalize your yard and garden.

You’re in a new neighborhood and winter is over. Facing the upkeep of your exterior can seem daunting. Additionally, your new neighbors will be taking stock of how you care for your lawn. The pressure’s on. Even with the unpredictable in Ohio, you can still create a beautiful yard. The following tips can help you get your lawn looking great in no time.

In this two-part series, we’ll cover the basics of keeping your lawn presentable and personalizing it to make it yours.

Take a tour of your yard with a notebook or clipboard. Make a list of what needs attention. You can break these tasks into subcategories that can be tackled in a few hours or over a weekend.

Maybe you’ve got branches littering the yard and last autumn’s leaves wedged in the corners or your property, not to mention those spindly dry perennial stalks poking out of your planting beds where it looks like flowers used to be. Cleaning up your yard might seem overwhelming. But To keep yourself motivated, think about tackling small tasks. Keep a checklist that you can scratch off as you make progress to keep yourself motivated.

Peruse planting beds. If this is your first year in your new home, you may want to wait and see what pops out of your flower beds. You might be pleasantly surprised. However, if they’re empty, consider a visit to your local gardening center to purchase plants appropriate for your zone. For more curb appeal, start with the front of your home. Looking for opportunities to talk to and get to know your neighbors? Ask them about the plants growing in their yards. Find out what they would have done differently. Think of your yard as a palette and brighten it with seasonal blooming flowers, or if you like sitting out doors in evenings, choose aromatic moon flowers that open after sundown.

Using heavy gloves, and a heavy garden rake, clear out all debris from your lawn and flower beds. This includes all organic matter that you don’t want in your soil like twigs and branches, dog and cat droppings, pine cones paper, metal and glass and those knotty root balls that make planting difficult. Your grass will thank you for a thorough raking too. Thatch build up is largely dead matted grass. It exists between the soil and the green vegetation. To maintain optimum lawn healthy, it should be removed when it gets to be about half an inch thick. This process is known as de-thatching.

Many neighborhoods have waste pickup for yard debris. You can check with your neighbors to find out when collectors come through your neighborhood. Be sure to package all your waste as directed by your waste removal collector. In some cases, they may refuse to pick it up if not handled correctly. Rake organic debris into piles and use labeled yard waste bags.

If you are lucky enough to have a mulching lawn mower, know that everything that lands in your yard is not easily compostable. Paper does not break down quickly and animal feces carries pathogens that can make you and your family sick. It should go without saying that glass, plastic bags and paper needs to be properly disposed of in refuse cans. Leaves can be mown over and turned into the soil unless they’ve started to mold. If so, get rid of them.

Assess any bare patches in your lawn. It may be as simple as laying down a bit of moisture retaining straw and re-seeding. If you have small children or pets, or plan to spend a lot of time in your lawn with bare feet, you may want to evaluate your choice of fertilizer. While you work in your yard, consider well-placed design elements like a fountain or mosaic stepping stone to add interest and personality. Whatever you do, choose the little touches which makes you happy to personalize your new home.~