Done With Winter? 12 Things You Can Do Now to Prep for Spring

Wind, animals, and gravity bring sticks, leaves, and other organic matter into your rain gutters, and chances are yours have accumulated their share of detritus over the winter. That’s bad news for your home: When downspouts are clogged, rainwater can spill out of your gutters and around the perimeter of your house, putting it at risk for leaks and flooding. Get ready for spring showers by removing the mess from your gutters to ensure that the water will flow freely.

Related: Types of Gutters and Materials to Consider for Your Home

To maintain optimal air quality in your home, it’s a good idea to replace your HVAC system’s air filter seasonally as well as the filter in your kitchen range hood. While you’re at it, consider changing the filters in your water purification system. Depending on your water, you might not need to change these as often as your HVAC filters, but it’s not a bad idea to check them now. So, go ahead and welcome spring with new filters all around to keep your home clean and fresh, and your appliances in good working order.

Related: Spring Home Maintenance Checklist

As snow melts away from your home’s foundation, it’s a good time to check any vents along the foundation or in the attic. Look for missing or damaged screens, debris, signs of insect or rodent infestation, or other issues, and correct them before they have a chance to become bigger problems later in the season.

Related: 13 Mistakes People Make While Spring Cleaning

Get your lawn mower ready for the season with a tune-up. If you didn’t do it in the fall, now’s the time to drain and replace oil, sharpen the blades, remove caked-on grass and mud, and lubricate moving parts.

Related: 13 Low-Cost Solutions for an Ugly Lawn

After a long winter spent cooped up indoors, you’re probably eager for a sunny day and a burger hot off the grill. Get your outdoor cooking station ready for spring by scraping away any rust spots that developed over the winter, cleaning the grill inside and out, and checking the fuel tank hose for damage.

Related: The Top 8 Ways to Hack Your Grill

As the weather warms up, outdoor entertaining may be just around the corner. Prepare for warmer days ahead by thoroughly hosing down all backyard furniture—chairs, tables, and lounge chairs—wiping away cobwebs, and bringing outdoor chair cushions out of winter storage.

Related: Editors’ Favorites: The Best Cheap Outdoor Patio Furniture

Once the danger of frost has passed and your grass starts to come out of winter dormancy, it’s time to jump-start your spring lawn-care routine. Address winter damage to your turf by seeding bare patches—although if you do reseed at this time of year, you should avoid spring applications of chemical weed or crabgrass treatments, which can harm new grass. Then get a head start on weed prevention by manually removing broadleaf weeds before they have a chance to multiply. For cool-season grasses, spread a light application of fertilizer in early spring; for warm-season grasses, fertilization can wait until late spring or early summer.

Related: 7 Things to Do in Spring for a Healthy, Gorgeous Lawn Year-Round

Winter storms can be hard on your landscaping, resulting in broken tree limbs, ragged shrubs, and a garden full of organic debris. Get your yard ready for spring by removing broken or damaged branches, pruning summer-blooming trees and shrubs like butterfly bush and crepe myrtle, and raking up fallen leaves.

Related: Going Green and Keeping Clean: Outdoor Edition

Take advantage of the sun’s return to check your roof for cracked or missing shingles or tiles, and examine flashing around vents and the chimney for damage. While you’re at it, have the chimney cleaned and inspected by a professional.

Related: 11 Ultra Powerful Products That Cut Your Cleaning Time in Half

Spring is the ideal time to plant summer-blooming flowers, which include beauties like dahlias and gladioli. Go ahead and get them into the ground as soon as the danger of frost has passed.

Related: 10 Foolproof Flowers Anyone Can Grow

Winter storms and rain can leave your windows streaked and dirty. Improve your view of mellower weather and let more sun into the house by cleaning windows, both inside and out.

Related: Lose the Drapes: 17 Ways to Dress a Window Without Curtains

Let the change of season be your reminder to test all smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors for proper functioning. Change batteries if necessary. Alarms can malfunction as they age, so if yours are older than seven years, consider replacing them.

Related: 10 Things Your Local Fire Department Wishes You Knew

It’s been a long, cold winter. Take on these projects during the weekends, and by the time you tick them off your list, the warm weather should be here!