With the temperature finally rising Friday, and with forecasts calling for even warmer weather this weekend, residents of the Southeast can finally begin their long-awaited yard work.

However, Dwayne Friesen of Golden West Radio's Lawn and Garden Journal is advising caution when working outside this weekend.  He says it's simply too early for some yard work to take place.

"Be a little bit careful about what you do in your lawns.  It's still too early and too wet to take out a lawn mower and start doing anything.  But if you notice that you've got layers of leaves from the fall still or grass looking really matted, just go over it with a rake to fluff things up, and get air moving to help lawns at this point.  It will start to dry them out a little bit quicker, and you'll notice they will green faster too."

Friesen adds tree and shrub pruning is also okay.

"If they're flowering, you've got to recognize what type of wood they flower on.  Do they flower on the current seasons growth or are they going to flower on growth that came from last year?  So if you're going to go out there pruning something like a lilac which flowers on last years growth, you're going to be cutting the flowers off."

However, he explains the same can't be said for working with soil.

"It's still much too early to do anything with the soil at this point.  It's still too wet, is probably frozen and you'll risk compaction if you're walking around on the soil."

It's for those reasons that he advises against a deep thatch, instead recommending to wait a week or two for the ground to become firmer.  Friesen notes it's been a long winter, and a lot of people have really been waiting to get outside and get to work, himself included.