How To Clean Up Your Lawn This Spring

February being the shortest month means there’s only a little bit more of winter to weather. Now’s the time to start thinking about what your spring lawn care plan should be. What you do in spring will set the stage for your lawn’s health all year. Check out our recommendations for keeping your lawn in peak health all season long!

Spring Lawn Care Tips

Clean Up Debris

Debris includes things like fallen branches, twigs, or dead leaves from the previous fall. Dead organic material creates micro-environments where diseases like mold, mildew, and fungi thrive. These microenvironments are also attractive to pests if left uncleaned.  Another excellent way to remove debris is by thatching your lawn. While it’s best to use a thatch rake, a normal rake will also suffice.  allows air and sunlight to penetrate deeper into your lawn. Grass literally has room to breathe, and more sunlight decreases the dark, dank areas that encourage disease.

Perform Core Aeration

This process removes hundreds of tiny plugs of soil from your lawn. These plugs are then scattered on the surface, where they will break down naturally into mulch. These tiny holes allow air, water, sunlight, and nutrients to better reach the grass’s roots. Plus, aeration has the added benefit of breaking up hard compacted soil – which thatching alone can’t do. When soil becomes too compacted, it makes it difficult for nutrients to reach the roots and for the roots to expand and grow.

Prevent Diseases

Lawns are prone to mold, mildew, and fungi when excess moisture build-up or a severe lack of sunlight is available to the root system. A common lawn disease that appears in early spring is known as snow mold. When snow falls on ground that is still warm, the snow traps the warmth and excess moisture, and mold thrives unimpeded until the snow melts in spring. You likely won’t notice any problems in your lawn until the damage is already done.

Other common lawn diseases include Dollar spot and red thread. If left untreated, Dollar spots can multiply and grow larger until they form huge swathes of dead or damaged turfgrass. The red thread appears like red strands of thread that coil about the ends of the turfgrass. Both of these conditions, and many others, can be proactively eradicated with a good fungicide.

Put Down Weed And Feed

Weed and feed products are great because these compounds simultaneously nourish your lawn while killing weeds. This sort of herbicide is called “selective,” meaning it will only target specific species. Therefore, you have peace of mind knowing your turfgrass will not be harmed. Make sure your fertilizer has the appropriate balance of nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P), and potassium (K). Nitrogen promotes plant growth and development. Phosphorous helps your grass roots grow strong and energetically. Potassium helps lawns resist diseases. Applying a weed and feed every 4 to 6 weeks, beginning in spring, will keep your lawn healthy and weed-free throughout the year.

Apply Pest Control

In addition to microscopic pests – fungi, mildew, and mold – you’ll also want to watch out for larger ones like moles and grubs. Grubs are the larvae of both Japanese beetles and June bugs. You likely won’t see them above the surface since they munch the roots of turfgrass. You’ll definitely notice their damage, however, when dead patches and uneven terrain appears. Grubs can be eradicated easily, and applying grub control in spring is ideal since this is the time when grubs wake up from their winter slumber in search of food.

Moles are horrendous for lawns. Their tunnels and entry mounds leave conspicuous damage. Thankfully, like grubs, these creatures can be taken care of swiftly and efficiently. However, mole control should only be done by a licensed professional.

Treat Your Lawn To Top-Notch Lawn Care  – Call The Experts At Harvest Lawn Care

Leave your lawn in the hands of the professionals at Harvest Lawn Care. Our multi-step lawn care program covers all the essential treatments from aeration to fertilization to grub control. We’ll make sure your lawn is the envy of the neighborhood!