Spring Home Projects in Northern New England

Written by Mark Donovan


As I sit on a plane in route from Chicago to Boston this evening, I realize I have been staring out intorepparttar dark abyss contemplatingrepparttar 100001 arrival of spring. Spring is a time of anticipation and renewed life. A time whenrepparttar 100002 snow finally abates andrepparttar 100003 Robins return to rebuild their nests. And a time when Tulips and Daffodils emerge fromrepparttar 100004 ground and bloom, if ever so briefly. It is also a time forrepparttar 100005 voracious Black Fly that we northern dwellers know only too well. For me, however, it is a time to shift into a higher gear; there are outdoor projects that have accumulated overrepparttar 100006 winter months and there is traditional spring tasks that every homeowner is compelled to do.

There are two main questions I debate as I compile my spring “To-Do” list: What to do and when to do it?

As always with a non-vinyl sided house, there is painting. Overrepparttar 100007 years, I have come torepparttar 100008 conclusion it is best to paint a portion ofrepparttar 100009 house each year; one yearrepparttar 100010 clapboards, another yearrepparttar 100011 trim, and maybe inrepparttar 100012 third yearrepparttar 100013 shutters. I am surerepparttar 100014 professional painter would beg to differ with my advice, but hey, not all of us can justifyrepparttar 100015 professional painter every 3-5 years, nor can we dedicate an entire week or two of our spring paintingrepparttar 100016 whole house. I have found it best to dorepparttar 100017 spring painting as soon asrepparttar 100018 whether gets above 50 degrees. Any sooner, it is too cold forrepparttar 100019 paint. Any later, and one has to contend withrepparttar 100020 other flying insect,repparttar 100021 hornet.

Another important job, but not so large in effort, is preparingrepparttar 100022 lawn forrepparttar 100023 spring rains. First there isrepparttar 100024 raking. Then there isrepparttar 100025 application ofrepparttar 100026 first stage ofrepparttar 100027 four-stage fertilizer process, you know,repparttar 100028 one that haltsrepparttar 100029 Crab grass in July and August. Usually every other year there isrepparttar 100030 additional task of spreadingrepparttar 100031 pest control to prevent grubs and moles. Based on product recommendations and when I actually have time, I do these tasks in mid May.


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