Nicer weather means it’s time to do some outdoor cleaning. To get your home’s exterior nice and spring-ready, we’ve compiled some tips for you!

Window Cleaning

Everyone knows the tried and true technique of using a cleanser and paper towel. If you want to reduce waste and save buck though, you can opt for vinegar and newspaper. It works just as well and can even be used on things like the barbeque and metal furnishings.

Pressure Washing

This is a step to be careful with, since you can cause a lot of damage if you don’t know what you’re doing. Pressure washers are great for stone-based surfaces like garages and patios, but can remove paint or damage glass. If you’re looking to remove mold from your patio or stains from your garage, this is a good route to go. A good recipe for removing fungus is to combine 250 grams of baking soda with 3 litres of warm water. Used correctly, pressure washing can be an MVP in your outdoor cleaning arsenal!

Where you don’t want to use a pressure washer is on the deck, since the intensity will strip the fine fibres of the wood, and cause faster breakdown. Instead, opt for a fine bristle brush or a boat brush to remove pesky deck stains.

Eaves Cleaning

This is a must-do in spring cleaning because of all the rain that spring provides. Once you’ve removed the major gunk, be sure to scrub out mold and dirt, since you don’t want any surprise foliage coming back up.

Lose The Rake

You heard us right: put away the garden rakes! Leaves can actually be a very valuable resource to pollinating insects, and a useful fertilizer for other plants. Instead of taking these away, simply clear the leaves that you don’t want into a more covert location, and leave them for nature to do it’s job.

Pruning

No pruning flowering shrubs. They need all their energy for producing pretty flowers, not repairing missing leaves! Pruning evergreen candles. Flowering shrubs that bloom before mid-June should be pruned after flowering. Such shrubs include azalea, rhododendron, and lilacs.

Fertilizing

Knowing when to fertilize can be crucial for plant health. The first question you wan to ask yourself is “should this plant be fertilized right now?” For most plants, you want to wait until night time temperatures are above 4 degrees to ensure the soil is warm enough.

Mulching

This is a big spring no no! Hold off on your mulching until summer, since putting down mulch too early can result in cold being held in the ground for longer, which is far from ideal for growing plants!