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Health & Fitness

Spring Lawn Care Tips

The key to a healthy lawn in the summer is proper fall and spring lawn care. If you fertilized in the fall and mowed late into the season, you should be in an ideal place for spring lawn maintenance. If not, there are still things you can do to care for your yard. Follow these seasonal tips like when to start cutting the grass in spring, how often to mow and water your lawn, when to seed or fertilize and how to cut the grass to foster growth to create a spring lawn care schedule for your lawn.

Lawn mowing and watering tips for spring lawn care
When you start mowing in spring depends on one key factor: the condition of the ground. If your yard is still predominantly frozen, do not mow! Let your lawn come back gently. Mowing over frozen ground can damage the existing grass and keep new shoots from forming. You should wait until the air temperature is consistently 60 degrees and the ground is around 50. This is also the ideal temperature for planting new grass. However, with warmer temperatures can come soggy ground. While you want to keep your soil moist in the spring, you don’t want it soaked. Water the lawn deeply once a week (if the rain hasn’t done it for you) to avoid thatch and stimulate root growth. Make sure your lawn is set up for proper drainage and don’t mow the lawn if your foot leaves an imprint in the wet ground.

Cutting the grass in spring is very important for its growth and summer health, because 60% of the lawn’s growth occurs in the first six weeks of spring. Make sure your riding lawn mower, walk-behind or lawn and garden tractor is set to the highest deck setting to avoid cutting off more than 1/3 of the leaf blade. Taller grass has stronger roots and naturally chokes out weeds; you don’t want to cut off the plant’s food source and stifle its growth. How often you’re cutting the grass in spring will depend on the type of grass. If it’s a cool season grass with an early spring mowing season, you may need to mow more than once a week. If you have a warm season grass that doesn’t start growing till after the last frost, you may need to mow less. Different grasses have a different ideal height so check with your local home and garden store to know how often you should be cutting the grass in spring to keep them at the proper length. In general, you’ll mow more often in the spring than in the summer.

Spring lawn care tips for your riding lawn mower
If you have a riding lawn mower or lawn and garden tractor, you probably have a bagger attachment. If you don’t, you may want to consider one. For the first cut of the season, use the bag to catch clippings and place them in your compost pile. This allows the lawn to be exposed to more air. Another useful lawn tractor or riding lawn mower attachment is a spreader to re-seed or fertilize the lawn. (Note: It’s best to fertilize in the fall. Fertilizing in the spring can emphasize top growth rather than strong roots, but may be necessary to adjust soil pH and can be done early in spring.)

Each spring, sharpen and balance your lawn mower blades. Dull blades rip and tear at grass, making it look haggard and brown. You’ll probably need to sharpen your blades two or three times throughout the mowing season depending on the size of your lawn and how often you mow. Sharp blades lead to a lush, healthy lawn.

Spring lawn care planting schedule
A good rule of thumb is to avoid heavy yard work until your lawn is dry so you don’t damage the new grass. Spread out piles of lingering snow to promote melt and keep patches from forming on your lawn. In early spring, test your soil’s pH and adjust it with fertilizer or other nutrients as necessary. Apply it evenly to your lawn (a riding lawn mower’s spreader attachment could help with this). Early spring is also a good time to put in new plants and lay down mulch. If you’re going to spread grass seed, this is the time to do it. You can do a few patches by hand, or over-seed the entire lawn to increase the density of the grass and keep out weeds. Once your lawn is dry, remove leaves and other fallen debris, then rake the lawn to remove any thatch and to separate the shoots. This helps get your lawn in prime condition for the first mow.


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