Seasonal Maintenance Packages
Supporting the land as it changes — one season at a time. Every season brings its own tempo. One month the soil is still sleeping, the next it’s bursting with weeds and emerging shoots. In our climate — where snow can linger well into April and summer heat arrives abruptly — timing and care matter. A little work at the right time saves a lot of scrambling later.
This guide is written to help you understand what’s going on in the landscape season by season. It’s for anyone trying to take better care of their garden — whether you’re doing it yourself, working alongside us, or just trying to keep track of what should be happening when.
This isn’t a rigid checklist — it’s a rhythm.
🌱 Spring (March–May)
Clearing, waking, preparing.
After winter, the garden can look scruffy — flattened grasses, matted leaves, stems left standing for pollinators. But underneath it all, everything’s already moving. Soil is warming, bulbs are emerging, and root systems are waking up.
Key Tasks:
- Cutbacks: Most perennials are cut down in March/April. We wait until the soil is consistently above 10°C so overwintering pollinators have emerged.
- Debris removal: Leaf litter and branches are cleared gently so as not to damage new growth.
- Edge definition: This is the best time to redefine bed edges by hand. It helps mulch stay in place and gives the garden a clean line.
- Mulching: Top up mulch where it’s thinned or where weeds might surge. We don’t over-mulch — too much can smother plants or seal off moisture.
- Shrub pruning: Some shrubs can be pruned now (dogwood, viburnum, potentilla), but others (like lilac or forsythia) should be pruned after flowering.
- Compost topdressing: Even ½ inch of good compost over beds improves soil texture and jumpstarts microbial life.
- Weed prevention: Now is the best time to weed — tiny seedlings are easy to pull and haven’t yet gone to seed.
- Bulb care: If you planted fall bulbs, don’t cut the leaves after blooming — they need time to recharge the bulb below.
Planter Notes:
Planters can be planted in April with cold-hardy annuals (pansies, kale, ranunculus), and switched to summer flowers later. This early wave helps lift a space when everything else still feels dormant.
🌞 Summer (June – August)
Maintaining, observing, adjusting.
By summer, the garden is in full swing — and most of the work is about observation. It’s easy to miss the small signs that something’s off — yellowing leaves, uneven growth, stressed plants. That’s where regular, gentle presence comes in.
Key Tasks:
- Mowing & edging: For lawn health, don’t mow too short — longer grass holds moisture and shades out weeds.
- Weeding: Weeds are inevitable — especially in the second half of summer. Stay on top of them before they go to seed.
- Deadheading: Removing spent flowers on some plants (e.g., coneflowers, daisies, rudbeckia) encourages more blooms. Others, like allium, are left standing for visual interest.
- Watering: The most important task, especially for new plantings and planters. Deep, infrequent watering is better than shallow, daily sips.
- Pruning & shaping: Summer is a good time to selectively prune hedges or fast-growing shrubs once their spring flush is done. Avoid cutting spring bloomers now unless you’re sacrificing flowers for form.
- Mulch touch-up: Mulch may compact or shift. A light top-up mid-season keeps moisture in and weeds down.
- Fertilizing: Most gardens do fine with spring compost and don’t need heavy summer feeding — but planters and vegetables often appreciate a mid-season liquid feed.
What to Watch For:
- Powdery mildew, especially on phlox and bee balm
- Japanese beetles (early July) — hand-picking in morning works better than sprays
- Signs of under-watering or over-watering (wilt, yellowing, stunted growth)
- Overcrowding — this is a good time to take mental notes about what might need dividing in fall
Planter Notes:
Summer planters can be wild and abundant. Petunias, coleus, verbena, calibrachoa, salvia — mixed with sweet potato vine, ivy, or ornamental grasses. They often need weekly maintenance: deadheading, watering, trimming back if overgrown.
🍂 Fall (September–November)
Cutting back, planting, preparing for rest.
Fall is often underestimated. But it’s one of the most important and generous seasons for the garden. The soil is still warm, rain is usually plentiful, and plants are focused on root development.
Key Tasks:
- Cutbacks: Some plants are cut down, but many (grasses, coneflowers, hydrangeas) are left standing for winter structure and habitat.
- Leaf management: Leaves are a gift, not garbage — they can be shredded and used as mulch in garden beds or added to compost. We rake paths, not soil.
- Transplanting: Cooler weather and moist soil make fall the best time to move perennials or divide overgrown clumps.
- Compost/mulch top-up: A final layer adds protection, buffers temperature shifts, and improves spring performance.
- Bulb planting: Mid-late October is ideal for tulips, daffodils, allium, garlic, and other spring-blooming bulbs.
- Final lawn care: Fertilizing lawns in fall (late September/October) helps strengthen roots for the next season.
- Irrigation shut-down: All systems are turned off, drained, and winterized before first frost.
Container cleanup: Summer planters are emptied or replaced with fall displays — mums, grasses, sedum, ornamental kale, or late-blooming perennials.
❄️ Winter (December–February)
Resting, watching, minimal intervention.
The work slows — but it doesn’t stop. Winter is about paying attention to the structure of the garden: where snow piles, what still looks good, where the wind funnels through. It’s also a time to reflect and plan.
Key Tasks:
- Winter planters: Filled with cedar, pine, birch poles, dogwood, pinecones — offering beauty when the landscape is bare.
- Snow removal: Not just for walkways — clearing snow from the base of shrubs or perennial grasses can prevent breakage.
- Tool care: Winter is the time to clean and sharpen tools, inspect wheelbarrows, and fix anything that broke during the rush.
- Late winter pruning: Some trees and shrubs (like apple, rose, spirea) can be pruned in late February or early March, before sap starts running.
Salt watch: Salt from roads or driveways can damage nearby plants — we can recommend safe alternatives or protective barriers.
🌸Seasonal Planters — A Living Pulse of the Year
Planters are like punctuation marks for the seasons — small, expressive gestures that signal where we are in the cycle. We love them because they don’t have to be perfect or permanent — just alive.
We design custom planters for each season:
- Spring: Pansies, hellebore, hyacinths, pussy willow
- Summer: Bold color, lush foliage, vines, annuals
- Fall: Mums, ornamental kale, grasses, gourds
- Winter: Cedar, spruce, birch poles, dogwood, cones, ribbon, and lights
We can install them as a one-time offering or return for seasonal swaps — clearing old material, refreshing soil, and replanting to match the time of year. You can also keep your containers on-site and we’ll work with what you have.
🧭 Optional Support & Rhythms
Some clients prefer to do their own weeding but hire us for spring and fall cleanups. Others have us come monthly to keep things on track. Some want everything done, quietly and beautifully, without needing to think about it.
We’re happy to:
- Offer occasional seasonal support
- Set up monthly or biweekly visits
- Build a custom rhythm based on your needs and your land’s behavior
- Walk your property with you once a year to review what’s thriving and what could shift
The goal is not perfection. The goal is presence — a relationship with place that stays attuned to what’s needed and what’s not.