If your home has a lawn, spring is the time you want to make good use of it and enjoy it to the fullest. The warm weather is the ideal time for you to put out your lawn chairs, sit back and enjoy the fresh air outdoors. It is important to start paying attention to your lawn well in advance so that it is in great shape for the growing season. The right kind of preparation at this time makes it possible for you to have a thriving yard come summer.
Clearing Up
A lot of debris is sure to have accumulated over your lawn especially during the fall. Clearing it all out is your first step in lawn preparation. Take care to remove all the rubbish since it can impair your lawn mowing, seed planting, and every other task quite significantly.
Raking your lawn as part of the clear up process has several benefits apart from letting you remove the debris quickly. You can turn the soil effectively with your rake, aerating it so that the lawn can ‘breathe’. Raking also helps the roots form and stay healthy so that they can absorb nutrients as well as water effectively. If your lawn tends to be a high traffic area, then aerating is a critical activity on which the lawn’s resilience hinges. Another advantage of raking is that it helps eliminate excess thatch that may prevent the grass from getting enough sunlight.
Planting Seed
The lawn may have worn unevenly in many places and now is the time to give extra care to these areas. Where the grass has dried up or there is weak growth of grass, mix the grass seed with new soil, and spread this mixture evenly over the surface after raking. Watering this area with special care is important to ensure that you have fresh, green shoots appearing in minimum time.
Fertilizing at the Right Time
The peak growing seasons are the perfect time for fertilizing your lawn. For both cool and warm season grasses, this should be done in spring. For cool season grasses, another fertilizing session with a nitrogen-rich product should be undertaken in fall. For the warm season variety, the second fertilizing stint takes place in late summer.
Water Sparingly and Deeply
If you water your lawn often but use little water, you may want to switch tactics to watering deeply but sparingly. Experts point out that the latter method encourages the grass roots to burrow deeper into the soil. If you water often, the roots have access to water nearer the surface and hence they tend to stay right there, near the surface too, thus weakening the grass. Make sure you check the lawn frequently so that you know when it needs water. Use plenty of water at this time to give your lawn the best impetus to healthy growth. Early morning or night are the best times for watering.
Mowing Matters
There is much more to mowing your lawn than simply running the lawn mower up and down the entire stretch. A good rule of thumb to follow is to cut only a third of the total height of the grass using a sharp blade. Longer grass tends to grow thicker and healthier, and its roots are well established too. Consider mowing more often during springtime since this keeps the roots strong and makes the lawn more resilient.
Maintaining a beautiful lawn may be hard work, but the elegance and beauty it adds to your home is worth all the effort. Do not forget, the beautiful lawn is the perfect setting for a family picnic, or a gathering of friends come spring time and the hours of fun you have out here will make you forget all your toil. Talk to us at Promier Landscapes Kingsport, TN for more tips on preparing your lawn for the spring ahead.