Spring Yard Work & Start-Up | Brookstone Outdoors

Spring is the only season when everything we do is running at once. Mowing routes start, the spray program opens, cleanups and aeration are going, irrigation systems are being charged and repaired, and install crews are back in the ground — all inside a few weeks of each other.

Which means the constraint in spring is not what to do, it is when. Some of the work has a date attached and some does not, and the difference matters. Pre-emergent has to be down before weed seeds germinate. Irrigation start-up has to happen before the first hot week, not during it. Backflow testing has to come after the system is charged and under pressure, which is why it is a spring job rather than a fall one. Those fill first, and a property that books late gets the dated work late or not at all.

Waking the property up is the visible half. The winter debris comes off, the lawn gets its first cut and its first feed, beds get cleaned and edged, and the irrigation goes on. That last one is where the winter's damage shows up — a system blown out properly usually comes up clean, and one that was not reveals split heads, cracked fittings and the occasional shattered valve. Finding that in April is a service call. Finding it in July is a dry lawn and an emergency.

Catching what is already moving is the other half. Weeds, insects and the diseases that get going in wet spring weather are all cheaper to deal with in their first two weeks than in their sixth, and most of the spray program exists to be ahead of them rather than behind.

And it is the start of install season, which is where the one real caution lives. A warm week in April convinces everybody that winter is finished, and the frost that follows is not unusual here — it is normal. It takes the flowers off anything that has broken dormancy, and on tender new plantings it takes the plant. The safe dates are later than the weather feels. We would rather say that in April than replace something in May.

One thing spring cannot fix. Pre-emergent works on weed seeds rather than on weeds, so it has to be in the soil before they germinate — by the time a lawn is green and growing, that window has closed for the year. If it did not get down in time, the answer for this season is post-emergent control on the weeds as they appear, and putting the pre-emergent on the calendar properly for next year. We would rather tell you that than take money for an application that will not do anything.

Our Spring Services

Check Up

A scheduled walk-through of every zone — catching broken heads, dry spots, and leaks before our high water rates turn a small problem into a big bill.

Licensed Weed Control

Colorado-licensed weed control for lawns and beds by certified applicators who know our native and noxious weeds — realistic, season-long management, not a one-time miracle.

Misc. Areas

Spring Cleanup

A spring reset — clearing winter debris, cutting back what we left standing over winter, and getting beds and turf ready before the growing season starts.

Trees and Shrubs

Slow-release spring feeding for trees and shrubs — replacing the nutrients our compacted, high-pH urban soils can't supply, for a stronger start to the season.

Weekly - Bi-Weekly - Monthly Residential and Commercial Mowing Services

Weekly Lawn Mowing

Weekly mowing tailored to your grass and cut at its ideal height — the single biggest thing you can do for turf that's thick, drought-tolerant, and able to crowd out weeds.

Design

Most sprinkler systems were installed rather than designed. A design is arithmetic done first: what the property can deliver, and what that allows.

Fertilizing

Licensed, slow-release feeding built for our high-limestone soil, where the wrong pH locks nutrients away — and we watch for insects, disease, and weeds at every visit.

Landscape Beds

Scecial Mowing for Occations or Keeping Lot Weed down

Lawn Special Mowing

One-off and vacant-lot mowing — knock the weeds down before the town sends a notice, or get the yard looking perfect for a wedding or graduation.

Licensed Insect Control

Colorado-licensed insect control for lawns, trees, and shrubs — targeting the pests common to our area with properly timed, certified applications.

Upgrade

Improving a landscape that already exists: replacing what no longer works, keeping what does, and planning the work in phases when that suits the budget.

Installation

Dependable sprinkler installation with commercial-grade parts for our high-desert lawns, where soil drains fast and hot spots are common — built right so we're not digging it up later.

Pre-emergent

Pre-emergent herbicide stops weed seeds from establishing before they come up. It has to go down early in spring, and contracts are needed by March 1.

Spraying

Patios

Repair

A full repair crew with 50+ years combined experience on every system out here — domestic, irrigation, well, dual, and greywater — and just about every brand and pipe made.

Aeration

Core aeration to break up the compacted soils common here, letting air and water reach the roots so your lawn roots deeper and shrugs off our dry spells.

Aspen Twig Gall

Round galls on aspen twigs are caused by a small fly. They rarely threaten the tree, and a spring systemic treatment reduces how many form.

Retaining Walls

Retaining walls that hold back our slopes and terraced valley lots — built to drain properly and last through freeze-thaw, with structure and looks in one.

Spring Start Up

We bring your system up in spring the right way — checking every zone for winter freeze damage before it costs you, and only once the hard freezes are safely past.

Cooley Spruce Gall Treatment

Cooley spruce gall forms cone-shaped galls on the new shoots of Colorado blue spruce. We spray affected trees twice a year, in spring and in fall.

Dethatching

Dethatching, also called power raking, removes the layer of dead stems and roots that builds up between the grass and the soil and blocks water.

Rock Work

Boulders, dry creek beds, and decorative rock that fit our high-desert setting — low-water, low-maintenance ways to add structure that hold up through drought.

Deciduous Bore Treatment

Protection against wood-boring insects that target stressed trees — paired with our advice on watering and health, since a well-hydrated tree is a borer's worst enemy.

Water Features

Ponds, waterfalls, and streams built to run efficiently on our water — a focal point that fits the landscape without becoming a chore or a water hog.

Dormant Oil

Horticultural oil applied before trees and shrubs leaf out, smothering insect eggs and overwintering pests before they can develop in spring.

Tree & Shrub Planting

The right tree in the right spot — years of watching what handles our alkaline soil and dry conditions means we plant things that live, not things that struggle.

Weed Pulling in Shrubs

Hand-pulling weeds out of your shrub and landscape beds — keeping mulch and plantings clean without spraying up against what you want to keep.

Deer Prevention Wire

Wire fencing wrapped around vulnerable trees and shrubs for winter, when deer turn to your buds and bark — up in fall, down and stored come spring.

Grub Prevention

Treatment for the white grubs that chew turf roots into fall — worst on drought-stressed lawns, so we time prevention before the damage ever shows.

Sodding

Instant, established lawn from quality sod — the fastest way to green ground, laid on properly prepped soil so it roots and holds in our climate.

Hydro Seeding

Hydroseeding — a spray of seed and mulch that fills in a thick lawn in about a week at half the cost of sod, and great for slopes and erosion control on our terrain.

Pine Needle Scale

Pine needle scale feeds on pine needles and weakens the tree over time. We treat it with dormant oil in late winter, before the buds open.

Pinyon Pine Ips Beetle

Ips beetles bore under the bark of pinyon pine and can kill a tree within a season. Prevention is the only treatment, applied as three cover sprays a year.

Xeriscaping

Low-water landscaping designed for the high desert — drought-tough plantings and smart layout that stay beautiful on a fraction of a traditional lawn's water.

Trunk Bore Prevention

Preventative trunk treatment that protects vulnerable trees from boring insects before they get established — cheap insurance against losing a mature tree.

Spring fills from the dated work outward, so the earlier a property is on the list the more of the season is still available to it. Tell us what the property needs and we will put the start-up, the cleanup, the program and anything you want installed into one plan rather than four separate conversations.