When Is It Time To Fertilize My Lawn
Its time to fertilize once the lawn starts to green up in spring. If you do it too early, the grass will put too much energy into top growth at the expense of the root system, which weakens a lawns vitality.
If your lawn has cool-weather grass varieties, fertilize your lawn when its consistently in the 60s during the daysoil will be in the 50s. Probably about mid-to-late May.
For warm-weather grass lawns in the South and out West, its time to fertilize your lawn when daytime temperatures are consistently in the 70s and soil is in the 60s, which is usually April depending on the location, climate, and weather.
Spring Lawn Care Tip #: Dethatch Your Lawn
Thatch is a layer of organic material made up of old and dead grass roots and other parts of grass that sits right on top of the soil in your lawn. Having a thin layer of thatch can be beneficial to your lawn as it may keep the soil insulted from extreme temperatures. On the other hand, thatch that is too thick may be harmful to your lawn and keep nutrients, air and water from the soil. Getting rid of excessive thatch, or dethatching, may play a role in keeping your lawn healthy.
Minimally, all youll need is a thatch rake and some elbow grease to dethatch your lawn. Rake deep into your lawn vigorously to remove the layer of thatch.
You can also dethatch your lawn by machine. Power dethatchers come in all shapes and sizes. Since this is a machine youll not be using on a regular basis, you may want to rent one from a local tool and hardware store rather than purchasing your own.
Other Spring Lawn Tasks
- Aeration: is best done during your lawns peak growing season. For warm-season grasses, this means early to mid-summer. For cool-season grasses, aeration is best saved for fall but can be repeated in spring if the soil is extremely compacted. Wait until your lawn has been mowed 2-3 times in the season, so youll be sure it is growing fast enough to recover from the aeration.
- Dethatching: also best done during peak growing season, right before aerating.
- Mowing: Begin mowing as soon as your lawn needs it grass blades do best when you cut no more than a third of the blades length at a time.
- Watering: Once your grass starts growing, youll need to make sure your lawn gets at least 1 of water per week. Until then, you can water less frequently but remember that cold air is very drying to plants and lawns.
- Insect control: Spring is a good time to address problems with fire ants. Many other insects, such as grubs and mole crickets, may also cause damage to your lawn in spring but are more effectively controlled later in the summer.
- Lawn Equipment: Sharpen the blade and tune up your lawn mower, as well as other lawn equipment, to make summer mowing a breeze!
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Should You Tackle Lawn Weeds In Spring
To get rid of lawn weeds, apply a combined fertilizer, weed killer, and moss killer in mid-spring.
If you would rather not use moss killers and herbicides, apply 4oz per sq m of blood, fish and bone mix monthly, from mid-spring to late summer if rain isn’t expected for two days, advises John Negus, gardening expert for Amateur Gardening. ‘This encourages grass to grow robustly and outpace the moss and weeds.’
There are steps you can take to combat weeds in your lawn
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Cutting Heights Vary By Grass Variety
Knowing the variety or varieties of grass that make up your lawn determines the optimum mowing height. As a general rule mow tall and never cut off more than one-third of grass blades, even if that means having to cut overgrown areas over several mowings.
You may think that the shorter you cut the lawn, the less often youll have to mow. Unfortunately, it doesnt work that way. Cutting grass too short can harm the lawn and invites weed seeds to settle in. Longer leaf blades crowd out weeds and indicate a deeper root system, which is much healthier for the lawn.
Mow in a different direction every time to help prevent ruts from forming and it makes for a more attractive lawn.
Spring Lawn Care Steps
Rake
Spring raking removes lingering fall leaves and grass blades that did not survive winter. Left alone, these dead blades add to your lawn’s thatch layer. Raking also loosens matted grass clumps caused by snow mold, which can smother new growth.
Use a spring-tine rake with a strong upward pull to remove dead grass. Rake when soil is not soft and muddy, or you risk pulling up healthy grass crowns.
Overseed
Fill bare or thin spots in the lawn by overseeding. Late spring is the best time to overseed warm-season grass. Fall is the ideal time for cool-season grass, but in colder regions, spot-seeding small areas in spring yields good results. When you overseed, apply a slow-release nitrogen fertilizer. Five weeks after overseeding, apply a quick-release nitrogen feed.
Learn about causes of bare spots in lawns, how to prevent them and how to treat them.
Aerate
Vital for a truly healthy lawn, aeration is the solution for compacted soil. How often you should aerate your lawn depends on soil type and how you use your lawn. Late spring to early summer is the right time to aerate warm-season grasses. Fall is the best time for cool-season types. But if you didn’t get to it last fall, you can tackle it in early spring. Learn the secrets behind aerating and how to aerate properly.
Dethatch
Spring is the right time to dethatch turf. Aim for early spring for cool-season grasses and late spring to early summer for warm-season grasses. Learn more about dethatching.
Weed
Fertilize
Water
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Give It Nutrients To Grow In The Spring
Plants go dormant in Pennsylvanias winter climate, so fertilizer isnt necessary during the coldest months. This is true even for cool season grasses. But you can help your lawn recover from the harsh weather with fertilizer treatment first thing in the spring. After aerating, as soon as the snow melts and outside temperatures reach an average of 55°, give your grass a healthy snack to energize growth for the spring. Lawn fertilizer is a special mix of nutrients that the roots absorb. Then, the plant stores or uses it as food over time. If you use a spreader, fertilizing can be a quick and easy way to care for the lawn.
Dispose Of Lawn Clippings As Needed
It’s acceptable to leave grass clippings on your lawn unless they begin to form a thick thatch layer. Then remove the clippings and dethatch your lawn as needed.
Tip: If you use chemicals on your lawn, do not add the clippings to a compost pile.
Effective DIY lawn care during spring can save you time and effort later in the year. Follow these lawn care tips to make sure that your grass is greener.
When determining how much grass seed or mulch you need, don’t guesstimate, calculate. Know exactly how much you need with our project calculators.
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Remove Winter Debris From Your Grass
No matter how carefully you raked and cleaned your yard in the fall as you were preparing your lawn for winter, chances are new leaves, sticks, weeds, and other debris have made their way onto your grass. Wind, rain, and snow can leave debris on your lawn. In addition, the snow can hide some of the debris until spring. Thats why its important to remove winter debris each spring. Taking some time to clean off your lawn before beginning other spring lawn care will make it easier to treat and maintain your grass.
Spring Lawn Care Tip #: Get Your Mower Ready
Youre going to be using your mower fairly frequently throughout the warm months. Take this time to get it prepared for the heavy workload.
Preparing your mower is one task you can get out of the way while you perform spring home maintenance and wait for consistent warm weather to arrive. Give your lawn mower a good tune up by:
- Changing the oil and spark plug
- Cleaning or replacing air filters as directed in your user manual
- Sharpening or replacing bladesdull blades might pull grass up rather than giving it a nice clean cut
- Cleaning off old dirt and grass
If you have an edger, you can use the above tips to tune it up for use during the warmer part of the year.
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What Is A Lawn Care Service
Lawn care services help your lawn stay healthy and green throughout every season of the year. They typically come with an annual plan customized for your property, with scheduled visits every four to eight weeks. These may include aeration, weed and pest control, and more. If your company plan offers lawn mowing, this will be offered every one to two weeks.
Spring Lawn Care Guide
As the world outside finally begins to turn green after a long winter, its time once again to pay attention to your lawn. Spring is a sensitive time for your yard the soil is spongy, the plants are tender, and the weather is unpredictable.
Your lawn will thank you for being gentle this time of year, but it will also thank you for addressing a few important spring tasks. Heres how to go about taking care of your lawn in the spring.
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S For Simple Spring Lawn Care
The Spruce / David Karoki
When spring is in the air, the first crocuses and daffodils appear to mark the coming of the season. These early signs also tell to you that it’s time to get your lawn ready.
The exact timing of lawn care tasks depends upon the climate in your region. If you get snow in your area, start when you are confident the snow has stopped. Or, start your yard work when the local forsythia plants begin blooming or lilac bushes begin to flower.
For homeowners in most regions, there are certain tasks you should complete in the spring to foster a healthy lawn the rest of the year. Make a checklist of these steps, and you’ll be off to a green start.
Lawn Care Equipment A Beginner Needs
There are basic tools youre going to need as your lawn care adventure grows. Here are a few basic tools and equipment needed to properly maintain your lawn:
- LawnmowerThe most essential piece of lawn care equipment!
- BlowerGood for cleaning up the yard, drive, and walkways without wasting water or a lot of manual labor.
- Steel Bow RakeHeavy, more durable construction, good for leveling and loosening compacted soil, spreading mulch, and preparing the soil before seeding bare spots.
- Plastic RakeLightweight, good for raking large areas of debris, more gentle on the lawn for lighter jobs.
- SpreaderA drop or rotary spreader for large areas and/or a hand-held, crank spreader for smaller areas. Can also be used for light dethatching in small areas.
- Trimmer/edgerKeep lawns looking neat along with drives and walkways. In snowy areas of the country, keeping the edge clean makes it easier to shovel in the winter.
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Prep Your Sprinkler System
If youre in a new home, or just want to see what can be done to improve the condition of your soil, the Sedgwick County Extension office can do a soil test. It takes about 2-3 weeks to get your results, which will include nutrient and pH levels, as well as suggestions for improving both. Knowing the make-up of your soil will allow you to adjust fertilization and watering to ideal levels.
What Time Of Day Is Best To Fertilize A Lawn In Spring
The best time of day to fertilize a lawn is generally the early evening. Lawn fertilizer can be strong stuff, and if applied when the sun is high in the sky and air temperatures are hot, it can begin to burn and scorch your grass.
A final note is to add fertilizer after mowing this gives the fertilizer time to really do its job in between cuts.
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Take The Soils Temperature
Just because the springtime air feels warm doesnt mean that things are balmy underground. Soil temperature is an important turf-care factor, influencing everything from how much you water and when you fertilize to how frequently you mow.
At Buffalo Dunes, which is planted to cool-season grasses, roots dont really get growing until the soil temperature reaches around 55 degrees. Thats true of grass. Its also true of weeds.
When the mercury gets to that threshold in the ground, Payne knows its time to get his mowing into gear and that its time to put down pre-emergent herbicides that will help keep weeds at bay as the season unfolds. For home use, inexpensive soil thermometers arent hard to find. But a meat thermometer like the one used during Thanksgiving will also do the trick.
Soil temperatures are going to do what they do, Payne says. You cant control them but you can let them be your guide. A lot of people feel like they have to stick to a certain schedule, like, I always mow on Mondays, Payne says. But depending on whats happening with the soil, the grass might still just be waking up and not need that. It might really just be time to pump the brakes.
Repair Bald Patches Of Your Lawn
If you have very obvious bald patches on your lawn, don’t worry they can be easily fixed.
You can simply sow more grass seed ‘Try where possible to use the same grass species as you already have in your lawn,’ says David. For an even quicker fix, lay new portions of turf.
Our guide on how to repair lawn patches has all the in-depth advice you need.
You can replace bare patches with new turf for a quick fix
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Spring Lawn Care Tip: Aerate Your Lawn
Heavy traffic and cold winter rain help compact the soil underneath your lawn. This reduces the amount of oxygen available to your lawn, oxygen it requires to thrive. Aerating your lawn creates channels for oxygen, water and nutrients to reach the roots of your grass where it is most needed.
You can aerate your lawn yourself using aerating sandals, a tubular lawn aerator or even a petrol powered lawn corer aerator. These items can be purchased from Bunnings or in some cases hired. We have an entire blog post detailing your DIY Lawn Aeration tips. Alternatively if you want your lawn aerated seriously, you can use a professional service.
Spring Lawn Care Tip: Top Dress Your Lawn
Another great spring lawn care tip is to top dress your lawn. Top dressing can provide a new source of nutrients to a long established lawn. It can also be used to even up an uneven lawn or fill in holes.
By correcting uneven lawns regular maintenance especially mowing will be easier and you will have a happier and healthier lawn. For detailed tips on top dressing your lawn you can read our dress up your lawn blog post.
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Remove Dead Grass & Prep The Soil
Before planting new seeds, remove any dead grass and loosen the soil. Lay a layer of turf starter fertiliser such as Yates Dynamic Lifter Organic Lawn Food then scatter Yates Lawn Seed Repair. This premium blend of grasses has a built-in slow release lawn fertiliser specially formulated to repair bare or patchy lawn areas.
When Should I Start Preparing My Lawn For Spring
Timing matters. While it may seem beneficial to get out as soon as the weather begins to warm up, a little patience can go a long way to maximize the results of your work. The best time to start preparing your lawn for Spring is when your lawn has mostly greened up. Too much traffic on the lawn before its green and actively growing can compact the soil and increase the chances of killing off new grass shoots before they are mature.
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