Spring Has Arrived in Winnipeg – Time to Walk Your Yard

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As the snow melts and the ground starts to wake up, this is one of the most important (and overlooked) times of the year for your yard.

Before anything grows in or dries out, take 10–15 minutes and simply walk your property. You’ll learn a lot about what your lawn and landscape actually need this season.

💧 1. Watch Where the Water Sits

Spring melt tells the truth.

Look for:

• Puddles that stick around for more than a day

• Soft, spongy areas

• Water sitting near your foundation

If water isn’t flowing away from your house, it’s something worth addressing early. Small drainage issues now can turn into bigger problems later in the season.

🏡 2. Pay Close Attention Between Houses (Especially Newer Builds)

This is one of the most common problem areas I see.

On newer homes, a lot of the focus goes into the front and backyard—topsoil gets brought in and everything gets graded nicely—but the space between the houses often gets overlooked.

What ends up happening is:

• There’s little to no proper soil build-up in that area

• It becomes a low spot as things settle

• Then it gets filled with decorative rock instead of being fixed properly

So instead of having a solid, well-graded base, you end up with a low area holding water—with 3–4 inches of expensive stone sitting on top of it.

A common mistake is to keep adding more rock to try and raise it—but that doesn’t solve the problem underneath.

The proper fix is:

• Pull back the rock

• Build the area up with heavy topsoil or ¼" down

• Pack it in properly and grade it so water flows away from the house

• Then reinstall the rock on top

It’s not always what people want to hear, but doing it properly once saves a lot of trouble down the road.

🌾 3. Look for Settling and Low Spots

After a winter of freeze and thaw, it’s very common to see:

• Sunken areas in the lawn

• Uneven grading

• Edges that have dropped or shifted

These are usually simple fixes early in the season and can make a big difference in how your yard looks and drains.

🐛 4. Keep an Eye Out for Damage

Before everything greens up, it’s easier to spot:

• Thin or dead patches in the grass

• Possible insect or rodent damage

• Areas that didn’t survive the winter

Catching these early gives you more options to repair them properly.

🧹 5. Do a Quick Clean-Up

No need to go overboard—just:

• Pick up garbage or debris

• Clear out branches

• Tidy up edges so you can actually see what you’re working with

A clean yard makes it much easier to plan your next steps.

🌱 6. Spring Is the Perfect Time for Topsoil & Overseeding

If there’s one simple thing that makes a big difference in a lawn over time, it’s adding a light layer of topsoil and overseeding in the spring.

After winter, most lawns have:

• Minor low spots

• Thinning areas

• Uneven growth

Adding a thin layer of good topsoil and spreading seed helps:

• Level things out

• Thicken up the lawn

• Give new grass a strong start for the season

It doesn’t have to be a major overhaul—just a light top-up in the right areas can go a long way.

Over the years, this is what separates an average lawn from those thick, lush, “golf course” type lawns you see around the neighborhood.

Those lawns don’t just happen—they’ve been looked after over the years with regular topsoil and seeding to keep them level, healthy, and full.

If you stay on top of it each spring, your lawn will keep improving year after year.

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Every yard is different, but this time of year gives you a clear picture of what’s really going on.

If something looks off—whether it’s drainage, grading, or areas that didn’t come back the way you hoped—it’s a great time to start planning improvements before the busy season kicks in.

Good Turf Landscaping Services Inc. Landscaping Winnipeg since 1984