A Guide To Getting Your Lawn Ready For Spring
The above photo shows a clients backyard in a pretty rough state and very overgrown. The after picture shows the property after we cleaned it up. It's not perfect yet, but we now have a base to start with.
#1. Spring Clean Up Your Yard
If you want a nice looking property then it's always a good plan to start spring with an overall clean up of your property and all lawn areas. Rake and remove any leaves, branches, or other debris that has been laying on your lawn throughout the winter. Clean up any of the dead or dying branches on your ornamental trees or shrubs that surround your lawn areas and clean out your surrounding garden beds of leaves and debris. Get your lawn and landscape ready for a new season of growth!
#2. Edge Your Lawn Areas Again
Nothing looks worse than a lawn without a clearly defined edge. Wherever your lawn meets another surface such as a concrete driveway, a walkway, or the edge of a garden bed you should have an established edge to the lawn. This clearly separates the two surfaces and gives your lawn a nice and clean manicured look. Having a well defined edge to your lawn can also make on-going lawn maintenance easier as you'll be able to just run the mower or trimmer right along the edge for a nice clean cut.
We can re-establish the edge to your lawn using an edging machine, we can do it by hand, or we can also create an edge with the careful use of a trimmer. There are several ways we can edge your lawn.
#3. Add Mulch To Garden Beds
Freshly mulched beds offer a beautiful contrast next to a lush green lawn and it brings many health benefits to your garden beds. The mulch will protect your plantings from the cold in the winter and helps keep more moisture in the soil during those hot summer days. After mulch has been spread throughout your garden beds they will have a nice and uniform appearance that will fantastic next to your healthy lawn.
*Mulch is usually delivered and installed (or spread) for a set fee per yard of material required. We can measure your garden beds for you to determine the exact amount of mulch that you're going to need if you want us to deliver and install it for you.
The above photo shows a clients lawn before and then about 5 weeks after weed control and fertilizer application. The difference is night and day!
#4. Control Weeds In Your Lawn
Weeds, weeds, weeds... They can overtake a beautiful lawn in a short period of time and they become very difficult to handle if they are let go too far. Weed control is something you should start in the early spring through the summer. If you have relatively minor weed problem then consider removing them by hand or with a spade. When your lawn is overrun with weeds then removing them by hand isn't usually an attractive option. This is when it's a good idea to call in a professional and then we can implement an effective broad leaf weed control program that will clean up the problem in a matter of weeks.
#5. Aerate and Overseed Your Lawn
Aerating your lawn is something that should be done at least once a year. Over the course of a year your lawn will build up a layer of decaying organic debris. This layer slowly compacts and makes it difficult for oxygen to get through the layers of debris and soil to your lawns roots. This can prevent nutrient intake and make your lawns growth not as vigorous as you'd like. Aerating the lawn is done using a special lawn aeration machine that actually punches small 1/2" or so diameter holes a couple of inches into your lawn. The machine actually pulls out the "plugs" from the lawn leaving behind hundreds of these small holes. This allows the oxygen and other nutrients direct access to your grasses root system.
Whenever you aerate your lawn it's a good time to "overseed" the lawn as well. Overseeding is the practice of spreading out new grass seed in areas of your lawn that are struggling. Maybe you have a few brown patches, or the grass is getting thin in some areas. Overseeding will help fix that and encourage new grass to take root and grow. It's a good idea to overseed when you aerate because the holes punched into the ground are great for the new grass seeds to grow in.
#6. Fertilize & Feed Your Lawn
Most soil doesn't have enough nutrients or in the concentrations required for optimal growth of grass. The nutrients in your soil should be replenished. This is why a lawn fertilization program is critically important to the overall health of your lawn. It's not just a one time application either… If you want a healthy looking lawn then it needs to be fed regularly and that means usually in 4-6 week intervals for the best results. Fertilizing is usually combined with weed control to give your a lawn a good head start for the season.
#7. Mow, Trim, and Blow
Lawns are dormant throughout the fall and winter and don't grow very much at all, mowing is not necessary. However, come springtime, your lawn will transition back into it's growth cycle and it will need to be cut again. Depending on your lawn and how well it's being cared for you might have to cut it weekly or bi-weekly. Don't skip a weekly mowing because you don't feel the lawn needs it, when you skip a weekly mowing your grass obviously grows longer. When you go to mow the lawn the next week it's going to take longer because the grass is longer! If you're bagging the grass you'll have to stop and keep dumping it. If you're leaving the clippings on your lawn you're going to have unsightly grass clumps all over your lawn.
*Tip: Don't lower the deck of your mower to cut the grass shorter because you think it will reduce the frequency of having to mow. This can actually kill your lawn! When you cut off too much grass you'll hamper the grasses ability to gather sunlight and complete the process of photosynthesis.
Cedar Lawn Care Is A Top Rated Lawn Care Company In Cedar City Utah
Cedar Lawn Care is a family owned and operated local lawn mowing and maintenance company based out of Cedar City, Utah. We specialize in regular lawn care and maintenance for both residential and commercial clients.
If you’d like an estimate for your lawn care and a regular on-going lawn maintenance program please give us a call (435) 559-4302 or fill out our contact form and we’ll get right back to you.
