Reply to New homeowner here--what do you have done in your spring cleanup and how much does it cost?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Just moved into my own house this winter and it comes with a lovely landscaped yard. Front yard is 1/2 lawn and other 1/2 landscaped areas with plants etc. In fact that part looks very scrubby (looks like low tufts of dead tumbleweed, etc) but my neighbor said, 'in spring it's the nicest part on the street.)

I'd like to get the yard ready for the spring and am contemplating a "spring cleanup". There are things that need doing, and a few beds of flowers as well that I don't really know what will come up.

And another challenge is that I just found out (thanks to a bunch of old house plans to our midcentury place) that our yard was designed by a renowned landscape architect of the area. So I don't want to mess anything up--either actively or by neglecting something important! Previous homeowners (who bought from original owners) did not seem to realize this as they never mentioned it to us; they kept the yard in OK condition, added some things, left a few areas untended.

I'm thinking that I need (or might need) to have the following done:
-Removing lots of twigs from front & Back yard (thanks, Windmageddon)--many of these are tiny so it seems like a raking job.
-Removing the leaves that have clumped up in the corners of the yard, in nooks of the house exterior.
-Aerate the lawn ? (there are some mossy areas under a tall pine tree; wondering whether this is a necessary step at this point, whether the cleanup would typically include that)
-Light hedge trimming of many bushes (a few are 'sculpted' looking)--is spring an ok time to do this, because I could also do myself.
-Mulching? I have areas with mulch; do they need to be remulched each year? I don't know what's going to grow up there, whether there will be weeds there, so was contemplating (as recommended in another thread) just letting it be for a season or two to get a handle on what it is.
-Edging? Is this essential?

An option is to have the guy who did my $40/mow at my old rental place, being clear on the kind of labor I want him to do and being there to supervise. I saw an older 2016 thread on spring cleanups where posters were frustrated that the cleanup crews removed or messed up their landscaping elements, so I was considering going 'light' on what I have done and being there to supervise/direct. So things like raking, leaf removal maybe some hedge trim, not sure what else is important.

I can spend some, but not a lot of $, and really, one of my main concerns is to get to know my landscape and to treat it well (trimming at the right time/method, preventing weeds if needed but responsibly, helping the plants to flourish) and if I start outsourcing it the first new season, I won't apply as much mental bandwidth to this goal (since as I am a working mom of two). And I won't know what needs to be done so I'll be spending more than I need, including perhaps for services I don't need.
Is there a 'landscape care for beginners' class in Montgomery county that gives hands-on mentoring.... :) Or a "yard care for beginners" book with instructions for tending to the main kinds of trees?

Advice welcome![/quote]

You are looking at $500-$600 depending on size of yard.[/quote]

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