Tips To Help You Prepare Your Lawn For Spring
Lawn care is an essential part of keeping your landscaping looking its best during the spring and summer months, and your lawn care should start as soon as the weather begins to warm up. To provide the best care for your yard, here are some recommendations for getting your lawn ready this spring for a full season of growth.
Manage Thatch
Your lawn is going to need some extra care in the spring when it emerges from the snow and ice. After being under a layer of snow or within freezing temperatures, it is going to have a layer of dead lawn that has collected around the lawn plant stems. This layer of thatch can build up thickly around the soil of your lawn plants, and it actually prevents your lawn from receiving moisture, fertilizer, and oxygen.
In the spring, you can complete your own thatch removal to help promote your lawn's ability to receive the nutrients it needs. Use a lawn rake to pull up and collect the dead grass thatch that has accumulated. This also is a great way to loosen any grass that has compressed and matted together, which can lead to snow mold growth that will eventually kill your lawn.
Monitor For the First Mow
The next step you can take in your lawn's springtime care is to watch its growth and mow it for the first time when it is appropriate. Your lawn will begin to grow unevenly in patches as specific areas grow in sooner than others. But when your lawn's longest length grows tall enough for a mowing, mow the lawn to trim its length. You don't want to ever mow off more than one-third of your lawn's height, so keep an eye on its length so you can begin regular mowings.
When you start to mow your lawn each week, vary the pattern in which you mow. Mowing in differing patterns will keep your lawn from growing in one direction, which can happen if you follow the same mowing pattern and mow your lawn in the same direction. So, for example, mow diagonally over your lawn one week, then the next week mow in a circular pattern from the outside working inward. The following week, you may want to use the same circular pattern, but going in the opposite direction.
Overseed Your Lawn
Springtime is also a great time to give your lawn's bare spots a treatment with an application of grass seed. Apply a thick covering of grass seed to the bare spots and rake them into the soil. Cover the soil and seeds with peat moss, then water the area thoroughly each day until the seeds begin to germinate.