Start Your Lawn Care in the Spring

Like many homeowners, you may think of caring for your lawn only in the summertime when it needs mowed. However, in order to look its best, your lawn needs care in the spring too. A "healthy" lawn not only looks appealing, but it's beneficial for the environment as well. Grass that is thick and lush helps to circumvent erosion of the soil. It also purifies rain water. Rain water acquires impurities as it falls down through the atmosphere. Healthy grass actually removes these pollutants. And, a healthy lawn helps put more life-giving oxygen into the air.

By performing certain lawn care tasks in the spring, you won't have to work your tail off come summer. You'll already have some things done.

So, how do you begin? The springtime is the perfect time to start cleaning your lawn up. You'll need to remove tree branches, leaves, litter, and other debris. Not only can these items get stuck in the blades of your lawn mower, but they can also smother areas of your grass.

After the clean up is complete, you should then perform an inspection of your entire lawn:

1. If you have roses planted, make sure they are still covered if there is still as risk of snow or frost.

2. If you notice areas of matted down grass, your yard could be suffering from a disease called, "Snow Mold." Simply use a lawn rake to lift up the matted down areas.

3. Watch out for holes that have been dug in your lawn too. If you find an occasional hole that's shallow in depth here or there, it might just be a sign that a hungry skunk or squirrel was digging for insects. However, if you find an actual burrow, your lawn might have a problem with moles, shrews, gophers, or ground hogs. There are several effective products on the market that will get rid of moles, shrews, and other pests.

4. According to the lawn care experts, if you quit mowing too soon last fall, then this spring is a good time to catch up. If you stopped mowing your grass last fall before it went into dormancy, it may already be too long. If it's higher than two inches tall, it would be a good idea to mow it down to that height this time around. The shortened grass will allow fertilizers to reach the soil better. Mowing your lawn now will also cut off the brown growth from last fall. It will also stimulate new growth for this year.

Don't worry about picking up the grass clippings during this mowing. Since grass blades are mostly comprised of water, and they break down rather fast, they will actually help fertilize your lawn.

The next step is to apply a good-quality fertilizer to your grass. Fertilizer is valuable in feeding and stimulating the growth of a healthy yard. Whatever brand of fertilizer you choose, make sure the formula contains an effective weed killer. Weeds rob your grass of nutrients it needs to grow green and lush.

You can then reseed thin or damaged areas of your lawn if all danger of snow and frost is over. Be sure to follow the manufacturer's directions on the seed in order to achieve the best results. Basically, though, you'll need to loosen the soil, rake it smooth, and then spread the grass seed. Place a light layer of straw over the seed, then keep it watered until it sprouts and begins to grow.