Best Lawn Care Tips for Spring

Follow these tips to create a healthy and beautiful lawn.

Spring is here and it’s the perfect time of year to get your lawn in tip-top shape. After the long winter it is finally time to give your lawn some much-needed love and attention. These tips will not only leave your lawn looking better than ever but they will also set you up for success for the rest of the year. Putting in time and effort now will save you hours down the line, especially when it comes to battling pesky weeds or starting up the lawn mower after months of it sitting idle. Give these tips a try:

1. Rake: Rake the lawn in early spring to remove any debris, dead grass, leaves, twigs and thatch. If snow mold has infected your lawn throughout the winter, raking will help to break up the matted patches of grass and remove the damage. Even if you raked in the autumn, it helps to rake again in spring for the best results.
2. Test: First, you need to determine the pH of your soil. If you balance the soil pH, you’ll need to do less weed control for your lawn in the future. Contact your county cooperative extension and ask if they can test your soil or buy a soil test kit. If your soil pH is either too low or too high, add Jonathan Green Mag-I-Cal Plus for either acidic or alkaline soil. Follow directions on the bag.
3. Aerate: Soil compaction is not only caused by heavy traffic, but also a direct result of the depletion of organic matter (humus) and microorganisms in the soil. Both are essential in carrying out the necessary biological and chemical processes needed for long-term grass health. When the surface layer of soil is hard and compacted, the grass roots can’t grow deep into the ground, becoming starved for water, oxygen and nutrients. Hard soil leads to an environment where weeds can thrive. You can test for soil compaction by pushing a screwdriver into the soil. If you must exert force to push the screwdriver up to the handle, your soil is compacted. You can rent a core aerator from you local hardware store or rental equipment dealer. Do not try to aerate your lawn by ‘spiking’ it with a pitchfork as that can lead to more compaction. Proper aeration removes soil plugs that drop on the lawn and break down in a few weeks. Spread Jonathan green ‘Love Your Soil’ as it containers the special ingredients needed to naturally aerate soil over time, building humus and topsoil.
4. Fertilize: After months of neglect, your lawn is hungry! Tip #4: Fertilize your lawn this spring. There is no need to go overboard but it’s important to give your lawn the nutrients it needs to grow to its full potential. Make sure to use the correct fertilizer– if you are reseeding your lawn, use a new seeding fertilizer which is high in phosphorous.
5. Overseed: Speaking of seeding, notice any bare patches in your grass? This is a great time to reseed or overeed the lawn. It is important to get these areas reseeded quickly to prevent weeds from filling in all the bare spots. If your grass is looking a bit thin, overseed the whole lawn. Be sure that the newly planted grass is raked into loosened soil which will ensure the best germination. Not sure hoe to seed? check out the Jonathan Green Seeding guide at https://www.jonathangreen.com/seeding-guide.
6. Weeds: Have you ever waited until the middle of spring to mow your lawn and realized it has become overrun with weeds? The time to act is now! There are two types of weeds, such as crabgrass and broadleaf weeds such as dandelions. Both are controlled by using different products, but they can be applied at the same time. To stop crabgrass from taking over your lawn later in the season, put down Veri-Green Crabgrass Preventer plus Lawn Fertilizer. If you have broadleaf weeds already such as chickweed, clover or dandelions, use Lawn Weed Control. The latter slowly kills these weeds, but doesn’t contain fertilizer, so you won’t be overfeeding you lawn. Both products can be applied on the same day. *If you only have small patches of weed, you can dig them out by hand but be sure to get out all the roots to prevent them from spreading to other parts of the lawn.                                           NOTE: You cannot apply weed control at the same time as seeding.
7. Water: Don’t do more work than you need to! Only water your lawn if it needs to be watered. There is usually enough rainfall in April to take care of irrigation for you. But if not, the rule of thumb is to apply one-inch of water per week. Water deeply for about 30 minutes in each area, but no more than two to three times a week. Watering deeply and less frequently will encourage strong, healthy roots.
8. Tune-up: Has your lawn mower been sitting in your garage all winter? Then it probably needs a tune-up! Make sure the blades are cleaned and sharpened, change the oil, check the spark plug and clean the air filter. A dull mower blade will shred the grass blade, providing an opening for turf disease. Plus, mowing your lawn can be a struggle if you don’t take care of your equipment.

Credit: Jonathan Green