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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Wolf once believed to be dead shows up near Crater Lake ... One of Oregon's two health insurance co-ops says it will shut down ... Rogue Valley gubernatorial candidate blasts Gov. Brown on climate change ... Wolf once believed to be dead shows up near Crater Lake ... One of Oregon's two health insurance co-ops says it will shut down ... Rogue Valley gubernatorial candidate blasts Gov. Brown on climate change ... Paul Rogers: Yard damage may not be as bad as it looks Comment By Paul Rogers More Content Now MailTribune.com By Paul Rogers More Content Now Posted Apr. 6, 2015 at 9:30 AM By Paul Rogers More Content Now Posted Apr. 6, 2015 at 9:30 AM » Social News Happy spring! There are positive indications that spring is ready to spring. Mountainous piles of snow are settling down to hills. The ground is bare in some locations. Birds are in good voice, and flowers are displaying their long-awaited blooms. If temperatures remain moderate, floods will be kept to a minimum and the bulb, shrub and tree flowering extravagance will be prolonged. Whatever the weather, the spring season can last only an hour and then we are into summer. Are you ready for the delightful rush? Do you have a yard maintenance plan? Are you prepared to implement it? For many homeowners, the lawn areas will receive our first attention. After the soil has drained and dried, make good vigorous use of a flexible-tined rake to remove all debris from the lawn. It is to be expected that during the raking, dead grass, composed of annual weeds and crabgrass, will be picked up. The dead is not a problem. Even the healthiest of lawns will have accumulated a certain amount of worn-out material. However, that said, if areas over 2 feet in diameter are laid bare by the raking, there may be a problem. Crabgrass is an annual that dies at the end of the growing season. Scarify the soil surface with an iron rake and immediately sow grass seed to take advantage of the season. Most weed seed, including crabgrass, need warm soil to start into growth. Lawn grasses such as fescue and bluegrass do not and thus can be up and growing before the weed seed germinates. Consider spreading an application of ground limestone at a rate of 50 to 60 pounds per one thousand square feet to improve the soil. It is standard practice to spread grass seed over the entire lawn at one-half the rate indicated on the package to thicken the grass stand. If you fertilized the lawn late last fall, plan to apply, not now (it doesn’t need it) but about the middle of the month of May, if you are feeding four times a year, or in late summer, if conditions indicate the need. You may be so appalled by the appearance of your shrubs that you feel obliged to attack them with pruning shears, saw or shovel. Please do not do so. Inspect each plant carefully. Broken (not bent) stems should be pruned at a point just below where the fracture or break occurred to remove the damaged growth. For now, remove only what must be done. With warmer weather, plants will respond by straightening stems and initiating growth just below pruning cuts. Plants that have been spread open by snow load will both start new growth in the opening that will now receive light but will (somewhat) fill in. Note: A balance between the mass of above-ground growth a plant produces is in direct proportion to the extent of its root system, as each supports the other. No matter how much damage branches and stems received from the winter conditions, the plant has 100 percent of its viable root system. Allow the plant to attempt to regenerate. Paul Rogers is a columnist for The Worcester (Mass.) Telegram & Gazette. By Paul Rogers More Content Now MailTribune.com By Paul Rogers More Content Now Posted Apr. 6, 2015 at 9:30 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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