The Importance of Spring Lawn Care

Proper spring lawn care is a vital part of maintaining healthy, green grass year-round. The five tips below can help you create a greener, more vibrant yard in the growing season and beyond.

1. Nurture your Soil

Your local extension agent can administer a soil test to determine what your lawn requires. The results can help you choose how to prepare your lawn for spring. Spring aeration is imperative in ensuring a healthy lawn. Use a special machine or a hand tool to pull small plugs of grass and soil out of your lawn. Aerating your lawn helps grass—and its roots—absorb nutrients, sun, water, air, and fertilizer.

2. Overseed

Regularly seeding your lawn helps your grass fight off weeds. First, prepare your soil with a top-dressing of compost to promote the seed’s growth. After the seeds have been planted, water every day and avoid exposing it to foot traffic.

3. Weed Prevention

While spring is the ideal time to control weeds with pre-emergent weed controls, a pre-emergent alsoprevents new seed growth. Before application, decide whether your lawn is more in need of new seeding or weed control. If weeds are the more prevalent problem, spread a pre-emergent weed control throughout your lawn in late spring and activate it with water. Subsequent applications may be required.

4. Fertilize

Fertilization is another important part of spring lawn care. Decide how to fertilize your lawn by the type of grass you have.

  • Cool-season grass: do not heavily fertilize your cool-season grass in the spring as this can encourage new growth to come in too fast, which results in tender blades that can struggle to survive the hot temperatures of summer. For lawns in poor condition, feed lightly in the spring with a slow-release fertilizer containing equal parts nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium. Heavier fertilization should take place in the fall during the peak growing season.
  • Warm-season grass:fertilize your warm-season grass in late spring (after the last frost, usually in April or May) as the lawn begins actively growing and begins to turn green.

5. Mow Properly

For a lawn to reach its full potential, Proper cutting height is of the utmost importance. Northern Ohio lawns are usually made up of Kentucky Blue Grass and different varieties of fescue. These grasses are best cut at 3”. Most of the water your lawn needs is stored in the grass blade. Cutting at 3” allows your lawn to store more water leading to improved health and vigor.

For additional assistance in spring lawn care, contact Free Spray Lawn Care at 419-529-5296. We can come up with the perfect plan to insure a green, healthy weed free lawn all season long.