Breathing the fresh air, seeing the gorgeous sunrise, taking a glimpse of the newly grown daffodils, spring certainly provides us the energy that we need to tackle the year-long chores and tasks in store for us. Taking care of your lawn is no exception. To make sure your lawn will be able to grow vibrantly throughout the year, it needs TLC and some preparation especially at the beginning of springtime. Here are some tips that will help propel your spring lawn care.
Sprinkler System Check-up
When thinking about lawn care at the beginning of the season, it’s really important to first address any sprinkler issues that are going on. You’re gonna want to check your sprinkler system as potential breaks may have occurred during the winter. And so, you won’t have any surprises during the night when you’re watering. To get a good grip on your irrigation system, it’s best to go through your system completely by checking if there are any breaks that may have happened and any coverage issues. Address those early on so that you’re not finding those problems when the heat comes in the mid-summer.
But hold up, before thinking that your irrigation system is back in shape, you also have to check if it’s letting out the ideal volume of water. It’s also good to remember to evaluate your lawn care system’s clock or timer as issues may pop-up when adjusting them back, causing over or under watering which would harm your lawn.
It’s easy to unintentionally overwater or underwater your lawn. If that happens, your lawn could have serious problems. Before adjusting your sprinklers, you first need to measure the amount of water that’s going out by putting a cup on your lawn and making sure that it’s only filled by 2 inches. If you’re uncomfortable with doing that by yourself, our Green Blades crew would be more than happy to adjust your sprinklers! To put out the correct amount of water – to ensure it’s not putting out too much or too little.
When you’re good with that, your irrigation system is finally ready for spring!
Lawn Analysis
Doing a lawn analysis goes a long way to jumpstart your lawn. It is the process of evaluating the status of your lawn, especially after winter as oftentimes, there’s winter damage brought by snow that is sitting on your lawn which causes a lawn disease called snow mold. You can easily identify it when you see clumps of matted grass present. In a lawn analysis, we’re looking for fungus, dead spots, and areas that potentially need to be reseeded. Spring is a great time to reseed or overseed to invigorate your lawn as bald spots or patchy spots are possibly present. With Green Blades, we can further evaluate your soil by pulling out a core sample. That plug of soil will help us identify your lawn’s overall health and what sort of services it needs to help bring your lawn back to its fullest.
Raking
You may think that raking is just a job in the fall to get the leaves off the ground, but its a good idea to consider doing it in the spring for another reason. Don’t forget that grass blades on your lawn might have died during the winter season, enabling thatch to accumulate. That thatch can damage your lawn’s health. There may also be lingering fall leaves that weren’t cleaned, which adds more damage to it in winter. Now, don’t be too hasty in raking; it is essential to evaluate first your soil’s condition, if it is too soft, you may end up pulling healthy grass crowns which can only damage your lawn. You need it to be dry enough before attempting a spring rake.
Overseeding
When you see bare or thin patches on your lawn, be prepared to reseed or overseed it. These bare patches are often caused by high traffic patterns, dog spots, and de-icing materials. Overseeding makes your lawn vibrant again in the long run as it fills in those patches with a new set of grass.
For cool-season grass, it is ideal to overseed during fall and spring. However, circumstances may force you to do it. If you think your lawn needs it, then don’t hesitate. If you are unsure on what to do, you can consult us and we can provide you with the best course of action.
Lawn Aeration
Soil compaction which is caused by lawn games and heavy foot traffic poses a big problem for your lawn. Not only does it cause turf thinning but it can also be the reason for its death. To prepare your lawn for spring, alleviate this problem by aerating your lawn so that water and air can penetrate the soil. As a result, the grassroots would get the nutrients necessary for its growth.
When you aerate your lawn, a core aerator is best used rather than a spike aerator. A spike aerator does not really solve soil compaction on your lawn. In fact, it worsens it which can only degrade your lawn’s overall health.
Doing it at least once a year will create a huge impact and make your lawn happy and full of vigor. For cool-season grass, the preferable seasons to aerate your lawn is in the fall or in springtime. For warm-season grass, late spring to early summer is the ideal time.
Tuning Up The Lawn Mower
Mowing season is fast approaching once again. This means it’s time to take out and make sure your lawnmower survived the winter. It is suggested that you have your lawnmower tuned once a year to have proper lawn maintenance. If you think your lawnmower isn’t capable anymore, then you should consider buying a new one. But even better, just hire Green Blades to take of your lawn and never have to own a lawnmower again! After all, your lawn won’t look beautiful without its barber.
Lawn Mowing
As the basic need for every lawn, in spring, only start mowing once the grass blades are tall enough to need cutting. There are different height requirements for each type of grass that you have to observe. Most types of grass recommend a mowing height of 2 ½ to 3 inches. If you mow your grass too short, sunlight will help weeds to germinate on your lawn. The best practice for lawn mowing that you can follow is to remove only ⅓ of the grass blade every session to avoid weed growth.
Dethatching
Having a suitable height of thatch layer is key to your lawn’s overall health. A lawn with ½ inch of it helps moderate the soil’s temperature and retain its moisture. However, if the thatch becomes 1 inch or thicker, that’s the time it poses a problem. When it’s in that thickness, the root system won’t get as much nutrients, water, and air. Besides that, your lawn will be more susceptible to insect infestations and lawn diseases. You can dethatch your lawn using a dethatching rake or even just a regular rake. When using a regular rake, push the rake tines deeply so that it could reach the thatch layer beneath the grass. The best time of the year to dethatch your lawn is the same with aerating. For cool-season grass, early fall and spring are optimum. For warm-season grass, late spring to early summer works best.
Weeding
One way of knowing that you have a healthy lawn is through observing that there’s not much presence of weeds. However, it doesn’t stop a few opportunistic ones from crowding out your lawn. When dealing with crabgrass, opt into applying pre-emergent herbicides. This is to prevent seeds that were produced last summer from germinating. You have to be accurate with your application timing as it could end up ineffective. Using post-emergent broadleaf herbicides are great for handling perennial and winter annual weeds in warm-season lawns. For cool-season lawns, dig out perennial weeds that start growing. Every time you use herbicides, always read the label directions for optimal use.
In spring, weeds start to compete with grass. You can hand weed them before they spread or begin producing seeds. By doing this, you’ll be able to jumpstart your lawn off to a good start.
Fertilizing
Boosting your lawn’s growth is always great to achieve those long grass blades. This spring tip actually begins in the fall when it is best to put your lawn to best with a fertilizer. This Fall fertilizer will settle into the soil and help your lawn come out of its winter slumber. If you forgot in the fall, it’s ok, You can make up for it with an early spring fertilizer that will give your lawn a kickstart waking up in the season. Don’t stop at just one application of fertilizer in the spring, if you really want a vibrant lawn that all of your neighbors are envious of, apply a late spring fertilizer. As we end spring and enter into the dry summer months, your lawn needs to be prepared for drought and other difficult parts of the season, and the best way to do that is to go into that hot season fortified with nutrients.
It’s best practice to fertilize in late spring when the green blades are starting to grow intensely. When your grass has a sturdy root development, your lawn will be gorgeous and vigorous in no time. Getting ready for the summer heat.
Professional Lawn Care
Taking care of your lawn certainly requires time, patience, effort, and energy. You may even encounter problems while doing it. To reduce the hassle in your life, let the professionals in lawn care and landscaping handle the job. Green Blades is equipped with the right people, skilled to assist you with your lawn care and lawn maintenance needs. We are confident that we can ease your life with this lawn care burden. To us, beautifying your lawn is our life!
For more information about our lawn care and landscaping services, please contact us through our contact page. With a good reputation of over 15 years, serving the Treasure Valley and taking care of our fellow Idahoans will always be our pride.
