Now that spring has sprung, it’s time to turn your attention back to your lawn.
You’ve got to get it in tip-top shape for the upcoming summer months, but don’t worry. Spring lawn care isn’t as time-consuming as summer lawn care. With a few of these spring lawn care tips from Emerald Lawns, you can get your lawn ship shape in a hurry.
Clean and check up
Do a good old-fashioned spring cleaning on your lawn. Rake up the leaves and the thatch. Remove any debris from your yard such as twigs, branches, pet droppings, winter road gravel and more. Raking is important because it will help dethatch the lawn and promote grass growth. If you leave un-mulched leaves on the lawn, this will keep your grass from sunlight and warmth from the increasingly-warm temperatures. These situations will eventually kill the grass underneath. We know you don’t want that.
Assess your blades before you cut for the first time.
Prep your lawn mower. Sharpen your blade or change it altogether. You don’t want a dull blade cutting your grass. This can pull up seedlings or make ragged cuts. These will turn the top of the blade brown and make it more prone to disease. Your mowing height should be 3”. Leave grass clippings to create a nutrient-rich fertilizer.
Fertilize
Feeding your lawn plays a major part in creating and maintaining a dense, pest and weed-resistant turf. Remember that lawns can get a portion of their fertilizer organically using mulching mowers. If you prefer synthetic fertilizer, there are many good brands on the market. We’d be happy to recommend some to you. The grass needs fertilizer now as it’s coming out of the dormancy of winter. Now, is the time to put on a heavy Nitrogen-based fertilizer. They are good for top growth. Be careful, however, that you don’t over-fertilize because that can lead to disease.
Make sure your lawn is compaction-free
Is your lawn subject to heavy foot traffic throughout the year? It may show signs of decline. When you’re checking your lawn, you should be on the lookout for this. If you notice moss on your lawn, then you probably have what is known as soil compaction. The best way to get rid of that is to aerate the lawn. Aerating the lawn pokes holes in the soil so that sunlight and water can get through, thus reviving the lawn. It’s probably wise to have a professional do this for you although power aerators can be rented from various lawn and garden stores.
All in all, springtime lawn care isn’t too difficult. Well, it doesn’t have to be so long as you prepped your lawn in the fall and kept foot traffic off of the lawn during the winter. If you’ve prepped your lawn for spring, as our previous blog article suggests, then you should be good to go. If you need any help along the way, just call us at 512-990-2199.
