Your Spring Lawn Care Plan
You’ve tidied up your lawn and identified improvements you want to make – it’s time to begin your Lawn Care Plan. Taking the time NOW to address any problem areas will improve the overall health of your lawn and keep it looking great all summer.
Remember: the secret is in the soil! Soil is a living ecosystem and needs air and water to survive. Healthy soil is the basis for a healthy lawn. Poor soil attracts weeds, insects, and disease, and promotes thatch, compaction, and weak rooting.
To make the most of your time and investment, follow these suggestions from the lawn care experts at Nature’s Lawn & Garden.
8 Steps to a Healthier Lawn
1. Rake the lawn.
Give the lawn a light raking to remove debris and lift up matted grass and (in the North) snow mold damage. Snow mold, a lawn disease, occurs on most Northern grasses, especially the creeping grass types. It is worse when there has been alternating snow cover and warm periods. Most snow mold will disappear by mid-spring if you fluff it up a bit so air and sunlight can get to the soil.
2. Soil testing.
Consider testing your soil early in the season. Kits are available at your local hardware store. Testing your soil’s pH will help you determine deficiencies. Signs that your soil may be acidic include: yellow spots, stunted grass growth, moss, and leaf blight (fungal disease). To increase your soil’s pH naturally, you can apply Liquid Lime/Calcium before or right after seeding, but before grass sprouts. Delay any further applications until new grass has been mowed. For soil that is too alkaline, Liquid Iron can be of benefit, but it is difficult to acidify soil quickly. In such instances, applications of Super Humic Acid help unlock nutrients bound up by pH imbalances and make them available for absorption. Soil tests can also show nutrient deficiencies, excesses, and the clay content of your soil.
3. Dethatch.
Thatch is a layer of matted roots, stems, blades, and clippings that forms on top of the soil. Excess thatch prevents water and nutrients from reaching the soil and may contribute to turf disease. You can increase thatch-digesting bioactivity with our liquid Biological Dethatcher. It contains specific microbes and enzymes designed to generate and accelerate thatch decomposition. It’s also a great compost accelerator!
4. Take the time to aerate your lawn.
This can not be overemphasized! Healthy, aerated soil allows air, water, and nutrients to move through it so roots can grow deeply and the soil biome can thrive. You don’t need difficult, expensive equipment to aerate your lawn! Once the soil is 50 degrees or higher, you can easily spray our liquid soil aerator, Aerify Plus!, throughout the growing season.
5. Over-seed your lawn.
Spread grass seed over areas that are thin or damaged to encourage new growth before your first fertilizer application. Over-seeding can improve lawn thickness, health and appearance. Be sure to use grass seed appropriate for your climate. If you’re looking for a quick way to calculate how much grass seed you need for your lawn, check out this handy grass seed calculator from our friend the Lawn Chick!
6. Fertilize.
If you fertilized in the late fall, there is no reason to fertilize too early in the spring. The lawn should have plenty of food stored up for early spring growth. This growth helps thicken up the lawn and also helps crowd out incipient weeds and Crabgrass. If you did not fertilize in the late fall and/or if the lawn is looking weak and thin, an application of LAWN FORCE 5 or our 16-4-8 Bio-Enhanced Lawn Fertilizer will stimulate both the above and below ground growth that you want to have in the spring. Our organic, non-toxic, pet-safe, biodegradable liquid lawn fertilizers will deliver all the micro and macronutrients your lawn needs for the growing season, along with added seaweed and humic & fulvic acids to bioactivate your lawn. We also offer a phosphorus-free version of our Lawn Force 5 fertilizer for those of you in states with phosphorus restrictions.
7. Sharpen your lawn mower blades.
When your grass starts growing you want to make sure your blades are sharp and ready to go so that they cut clean and do not damage the grass on the first mow.
8. First Mow.
Make your first cut short – as low as you can mow without scalping the lawn- perhaps 1 – 1.5 inches high. Do this only when the grass is just starting to grow, not if it is already growing vigorously (remember: never cut off more than 1/3 of the grass blade when it’s growing). This first short mow helps warm up the soil faster, stimulates growth, and allows more sunlight to reach the young sprouts, while also eliminating snow mold. Check out our blog series on How to Mow Your Lawn for more mowing education.
Some effort now will help you achieve your dream lawn in no time. It won’t be long before temperatures rise and you’re relaxing in your beautiful yard! And remember, all of our products are ALWAYS non-toxic and safe for kids, pets, and the environment.
Got questions about your lawn or garden? We’re here to help!
Nature’s Lawn & Garden Inc. has been serving customers for over 40+ years. We provide professional advice as well as high quality, easy to use, DIY products for natural lawn and garden care, for customers all over the contiguous United States.
