We are only days away from entering the spring season (it officially starts March 20^th). For Arizona, our spring season is even looking to match up with the rest of the country’s schedule! We have had rain consistently over the last few months, and it’s even been raining this week. With all that rain and the sunny days showing up off and on, you might see that some parts of your landscape, if not all, are already starting to noticeably grow again.

Spring is the time of year when your lawn, your trees, your shrubs, your roses – almost everything in your landscape comes back to life. This is also the best time to start prepping your yard.

Prepping, cleaning, and feeding your landscape now lets you take control of the growth before it gets out of hand and makes yard maintenance so much easier in the summer months when its too hot to be outside doing anything, let alone yard work!

We have put together an overview of landscape tips we recommend for spring in Arizona. For more detailed information, check out our monthly landscape tips on our blog, like our tips for March.

Everything Grows in Spring

Unless it is already happening in your yard, you will soon see lots of activity with new growth from your shrubs, the flowers blooming, butterflies and hummingbirds visiting, and the grass (and weeds) growing overnight.

Spring is the busiest time of the year for yard maintenance and we want to make sure we help you out, so you have the healthiest and best-looking yard all spring.

Landscape To-Do List

April

In April, you will probably continue to see weeds pop up in your yard and your lawn. We recommend pulling them as soon as you see them, so they have less time to drop their seeds. Once you clear out the weeds in your yard, it is good to get into a routine of using pre-emergent herbicides to lessen weed growth.

Now that the sun is out longer we can start to trim our trees and shrubs, especially if any of them have been damaged by frost this past winter. Once trimmed, fertilize the trees and shrubs.

Spring is an excellent time to plant any desert landscaping materials, new citrus trees, shrubs, and ground cover.

May

By May, our average temperature will be in the mid-90s. This is an important month to make sure your watering schedule is set up correctly. The rise in temperature will quickly let you know which plants need more water. Stay on top of this because the next few months only get hotter and can cause some severe damage if your landscape is not watered properly. Water slowly and water deep!

Continue to look for weeds and pull them out as soon as possible. By now, weed growth should be slowing down and not be such a nuisance to homeowners.

June

June is the first month of the year where the hot sun can start doing some real damage to your landscape. Continue to check your plants and trees to see if their water intake needs to be adjusted.

If you have young, newly planted trees, you might need to protect the trunk from sunburn. Reach out to one of our nursery professionals to discuss how you can protect your trees better and which of your trees might need extra attention.

Adding mulch around plants that are sensitive to heat will help keep moisture around the roots and keep it cooler throughout the day.

Lawn To-Do List

April

If you seeded your lawn with Rye grass for the winter, this is the time of year to transition back to your Bermuda grass, if it has not happened already.

Cut your lawn short to assist in the transition. Re-adjust your sprinklers or watering system as the temperatures increase throughout the month.

May

Your Bermuda grass should be back and ready for fertilizing! We recommend fertilizing before it gets too warm.

Your watering schedule will need to increase by this month. Once we hit triple digits your lawn might even need daily watering, preferably early in the morning or soon after the sun sets.

June

Be sure to monitor your lawn and increase its water intake as needed. The temperatures will be over 100 degrees daily, so your lawn will need more water. Every yard is different, so you will have to find out what works best for you to have the healthiest lawn!

Shrub Ideas for Spring Planting

Below are some suggestions from our landscape designers that are great for spring planting and popular for Arizona landscapes. We even have an awesome offer on all our pottery, so you can plant your new shrubs in your new landscape decor!

Sticks on Fire

Bring the awe-inspiring look of sea coral to a dry landscape! Sticks on Fire have an interesting and unique coral structure that gets better looking in stressful situations! They can explode with color from winter to summer - bright fiery red/orange and green colors go back to a lighter green hue. We like to use them in rock gardens and as a beautiful addition to beds and borders.

Indian Hawthorn

This shrub looks good almost anywhere it’s planted! It stays small and grows slowly, which means it can keep the same look with very little maintenance all year long. Indian Hawthorn grows in a perfectly round form and produces pink and white flowers every spring. Because it is an evergreen plant, they are amazing to plant as small hedges and borders.

Cape Honeysuckle

One of the most versatile plants for any landscape, the Cape Honeysuckle has bursts of bright orange, trumpet-shaped blooms. This shrub trims into a medium to large bush or hedge and is frequently used as a vine to cover posts or fences. Cape Honeysuckle thrives in well-prepared soil with good drainage. Be sure to water moderately and fertilize with Moon Dust mid-spring through early fall to keep them looking their best.

Rosemary

This evergreen shrub has become more and more popular in the southwest because of how durable it is and how many different forms it comes in. Depending on your landscape needs, you can add upright, ground cover, or trailing rosemary into your design. It can produce flowers that grow blue, white, pink, and purple that have a defined aroma.

Moon Valley Nurseries Tree Care

Moon Valley Nurseries is proud of all our trees we grow for our customers, and we don’t stop after we sell them. We have our own skilled tree care team that can trim, fertilize, stump grind, or remove your trees. Click here to get more information and reach out to us with questions or to schedule a consultation.