7 Landscaping Tips for Caring for Your Lawn during Spring

When springs arrive, it’s time for your lawn to get its health back after the extreme winter weather. Your flowers are blooming, and the grass is just rejuvenating back. The little effort you put into your lawn in the wake of spring will help it recover its vibrancy and health. Here are some landscaping tips and pointers to help you in tending your lawn this spring.

1. Fill the Patches

As the grass is getting its life back, so are the weeds. It is important to tend to those blank spots on your lawn to prevent weeds from taking advantage. Fill the patches with seeds or sod. First, prepare the patch by loosening the soil with a rake before filling it with either seeds or sod. If you decide to use grass seed, then sow your seeds and cover lightly with some topsoil. For sod, cut a fitting patch and press it firmly in the soil. Water the seeded section daily as moisture promotes faster growth of roots. Slightly water the sod daily to ensure it is moist but also not soggy.

2. Water

Water your lawn, but do it the right way. Avoid watering right after winter as there is enough moisture to enable growth of roots and regeneration of leaves. Introduce watering slowly and progressively only on scarcity of rains or on signs of dehydration.

3. Weed Out

It is unavoidable to miss a couple of weeds here and there on your lawn, especially after being untended to during winter. Weeds provide constant competition for water and nutrients and are therefore neither good for your grass nor for their appearance. Best thing to do is to root them out before they infest your lawn. Simple hand weeding will be effective only if the weeds have not manifested that much. In dire cases where hand weeding is not an option, reach out to landscape experts who will recommend the technique or herbicide to eliminate the weeds from your lawn.

4. Rake

Raking your lawn removes the fallen leaves, twigs, and dead grass blades that were not lucky to survive winter, thus preventing the build-up of that thatch layer. Rake when the soils are hard and not muddy to avoid pulling out healthy grass crowns.

5. Fertilize Late

Apply spring fertilizer about three weeks after the grass greens. Other than rapid growth of grass, there is a high chance of boosting the growth of weeds if you apply your fertilizer very early in spring. Too-early application also risks fertilizer run-off because of heavy rainfall. To avoid the occasion of mowing sooner and more frequently, it is best to hold off that fertilizer. When the conditions are ideal, consider using lawn fertilizer that is best suited to your climate and grass. Try not to over-fertilize as this would not produce the best result.

6. Mow

Start mowing your lawn when the ground is dry and grass is long enough to cut preferably three to four weeks into spring. For your first mow, set the height to about an inch lower than normal to break the debris. Before you head out to mow, have a technician service your mower just to ensure the starter, air filter, belts, spark plug, and battery are in working condition. This check will also ensure the blade is sharp for a flawless cut. A dull mower blade rips grass, leaving it exposed diseases.

7. Aerate

Aerate your lawn, especially in places that have been under a lot of traffic. Constant traffic leads to compaction of soil which inhibits proper growth of grass. The process can be technical, so it is best to seek help from experts.

Using these lawn care tips will help you grow a healthy and green lawn all season long.

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