In the next weeks, city- and county-sponsored Spring Cleanups will offer either free dumping at the transfer station or at a drop-off point located near you.

We suggest you take advantage of the timing and get some of your spring cleaning done now so you can make the best use of the free dumping.

Take a critical look at your property. Try to see it from the viewpoint of a first-time visitor. Your half-finished projects and "I’m-going to-get-to-that-someday" piles probably just look like junk to the average passerby and may give them a bad impression of you and your neighborhood.

Make a decision. Are you going to actually tackle that project or is it best to sell the items or even throw them away?

During Spring Cleanup you can get rid of just about any waste material that is normally accepted at the transfer station.

Specific rules differ a little between different areas, so make sure to check ahead of time. Generally, car tires are limited to four per household and refrigerators are limited to one per household. No truck tires, commercial waste or raw garbage will be accepted.

Set aside any liquids or hazardous materials from your many home-improvement or garden projects, such as herbicides, pesticides, oil, paint, paint thinners, solvents, cleaners, etc. These don’t belong at the dump.

Instead they must be disposed of at the Hazardous Waste Facility located at the Central Transfer Station, 4201 Olympic Highway. It is open from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. each Wednesday and from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on the first Saturday of each month.

If you have questions about what is considered hazardous waste, call 538-7080.

If you have a specific question about your area’s Cleanup, if you’re in the county, call 249-4222. If you’re in a city, call your own city hall for more information. Different cities have specific rules.

Meanwhile, mark your calendar:

• East County – April 15 from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the pavilion lot of the fairgrounds
• Aberdeen – April 17-22 at the Central Transfer Station from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. during the week and 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday.
• Hoquiam – April 24-29 at the Central Transfer Station from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. during the week and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday
• Central Park – May 6 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Central Transfer Station
• McCleary – May 6 at City Hall
• Oakville – May 13 from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the school parking lot
• Pacific Beach/Moclips – May 20 from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. across from J& M’s at Pacific Beach
• Montesano – May 20 at the Central Transfer Station
• Ocean Shores – May 22-26 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Public Works shop (Check about additional restrictions on what can be brought.)
• Grayland – June 3 from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Grayland Community Center
• Cosmopolis – date yet to be determined.

If your spring interest tends more to the garden than household maintenance, make sure that your gardening efforts don’t harm the health of your house.

As you eagerly put fresh soil or attractive bark in the flowerbeds next to your house, remember that it is critical the soil or bark does not actually touch the untreated wood portions of your house. In fact all soils should be kept a minimum of 6 inches away from any untreated wood. If it does touch untreated wood, you’re asking for rot and bug trouble!

Instead, make sure you have a barrier between your garden spots and your house. You can attractively edge the areas with treated wood, stone, gravel or decorative cement blocks to keep the garden and the house apart.

Having the soil or bark right next to the house doesn’t allow the wood of the house to dry out and breathe, and provides bugs and other pests with an unobstructed path to your home.

This is also the prime time to take care of any piles of rotting lumber on your property. If you haven’t used it yet and it’s not useable anymore, it’s time to get rid of it!

Next, take a look at those neatly stacked woodpiles. As handy as it was to have the wood stacked close to your house or garage during the winter, it’s really best to have them at least 25 feet away from any structure. As it warms up, those piles will become bug magnets and endanger your home. Also, keep the woodpiles up off the ground, it will last longer, stay cleaner and attract fewer pests.

While you are taking care of outside clean up, take a good look at the birds in your yard too. While it’s wonderful to enjoy the sights and sounds of birds in spring, you don’t really want any birds nesting in your home.

Next week we’ll talk about pest birds and their impact on your home. We’ll provide you with some helpful hints on convincing them to relocate somewhere else.