5 of the Best Spring Lawn Care Tips to Get Your Lawn Spruced up for Spring

It’s Spring again! Though most of us aren’t so enthusiastic about springing back into our lawn maintenance routine. But you have good reason not to procrastinate. The right amount of lawn care now will make it loads easier on yourself the rest of the year.

So save the couch potato days for summer and hop to it with these lawn care tips for spring.

1. Maintenance Your Mower

How well would your car run after not starting it for three to six months? After such a long period of non-operation, cars require special care to start up without damaging the engine.

Like your car, your lawnmower is basically an engine that you steer. It, too, requires a tuneup after a 3-month sabbatical.

Before starting your Spring mowing, change the oil and put in fresh gas. Replace the spark plug and air filter. Remove any dirt and grass you can from the mower. If it’s a gas mower, don’t turn it upside down to clean the undercarriage. Instead, tilt one side up at a time and scrub with a long-handled, soft-bristled brush. For stuck-on dirt and grass, scrape with a putty knife or hand trowel. Be careful not to get cut by the blade.

Speaking of the blade, a dull blade is bad for your grass. Grass heals faster after a clean cut. If your blade is no longer sharp, sharpen or replace it.

Or if you want the best tuneup and the longest life for your mower, take it in for professional service.

2. Rake Up Thatch

You most likely removed leaves from the surface of your lawn in fall. But the beginning of spring is the best time for raking up thatch.

Lawn thatch is dead grass, leaves, and other organic matter that settle beneath the tips of your grass but above the roots. Less than half an inch of thatch is considered good for your lawn. Half an inch or more will invite pests and disease.

Give your lawn a good, deep raking to remove excessive thatch. This is hard on your lawn since it can tear up some of the grassroots. So do this at the start of a growth period when it can recover quickly.

This raking also helps you diagnose any matted or compacted spots on your lawn. Matted grass will be effectively broken up by the raking. Compacted spots can be solved by aerating.

3. Test For Acidity

A hard winter can lower the pH of your soil, making it too acidic for your lawn to thrive. A good indicator of an acidic lawn is moss growth. Regardless of visible moss growth, it’s best to test and be sure. You can find DIY soil pH tests at your local home and garden store. Or take the soil sample into your local county extension.

If your lawn is too acidic, carefully apply lime according to the instructions on the product label. If, on the other hand, the pH is too alkaline, add sulfate with a broadcast spreader. After applying the necessary treatment, test the pH again in 30 days.

4. Reseed Bare Patches

If your lawn’s peppered with dog spots or other bare patches, you’ll want to reseed them with your type of grass seed. First, flush the area thoroughly with water and rake away any dead grass. Level the spot with fresh soil and sand, if necessary. Add the seed with a slow-release, nitrogen fertilizer and water daily. Don’t mow reseeded spots until they grow over two inches. Apply fertilizer again in five weeks.

5. Weed And Feed

It’s good you’re reseeding in Spring because you’ll be fertilizing and weed-spraying your entire lawn anyway. This should be done every Spring and Fall. If you have only a very small amount of weeds to spray and a whole lawn to fertilize, it’s best to use separate fertilizer and weeding products on your lawn. This way you aren’t overusing herbicides.

But, if your yard is full of weeds, or prone to many weeds in Spring/Summer, you’ll need to spray the whole thing for weeds anyway. In this case, it’s much easier to spray a single application of fertilizer/weed spray combination product.

For best results, wait to apply until a couple of weeks after you’ve started watering so the soil is moist. And mow the lawn before applying.

Follow These Lawn Care Tips For Spring

A stitch in time saves nine. Timely lawn care saves you from sweating, cursing, and shaking your fist at the sun while pulling overgrown weeds on the hottest day of summer.

For your own sake, follow these lawn care tips for spring.

Now read How to Go Green With a Battery Powered Mower.