Maybe you are new to having a lawn this year, or perhaps you are inquiring how to up your grass game this mowing season by making sure your grass really is greener on the other side (of the neighbor’s yard!). Either way, we have some quick and easy tips on how to have the best-looking lawn this summer, and it all starts with some basic spring lawn care steps. It’s not as grueling as it sounds, but you’ll need to put in a bit more work than just watching the grass grow!
First on the list is making sure your lawn mower has been serviced and ready to go. If the blades are dull, the mowing deck needs leveling, or other basic routine maintenance can all make a difference in the quality of cut you are producing. Second, make sure you aren’t starting too early! Check that the grass is dry to the touch and there isn’t too much moisture left over from the winter. Once you’ve determined you’re ready to start mowing, think of cutting your grass as giving it a trim instead of a full haircut! You never want to take too much off the top, as you want to promote growth and not scalp it. Scalping your grass can lead to killing it or let in harmful growth of weeds or unwanted diseases. Set you’re mowing deck to cut off no more than 1/3 of the height of the grass, regardless how long it currently is. You can slowly get to your desired height by cutting small amounts more frequently over time.
Every spring you will likely notice a layer of what looks like brown, dead grass underneath the green growing healthy new sprouts, this is known as thatch. Thatch needs to be removed to get rid any insects, diseases and encourage new growth, access to oxygen and of course water. Depending on the size of your lawn, this can be completed with a basic hand rake, a tow-behind thatcher on your lawn mower, or even an engine powered thatcher whether it may be walk-behind or towable behind a tractor.
Not unlike like dethatching your lawn, aerating your lawn will also assist with getting ample amounts of water and oxygen down into the dirt to loosen up the compact soil and promote healthy grass growth. This is especially important in areas of high foot traffic where the soil can get trampled over and quite dense. Same as the dethatchers, if you have a small lawn, you can purchase manual handheld aerators, town behind aerators for behind your lawn mower, and powered options well! There are two main styles of aeration, spiked, or plugged. Spiked is usually used for smaller lawns with less problem areas where there isn’t as much of compaction happening and plugged is for fixing more harsh situations or larger areas.
Your grass is well on its way to looking happy and healthy, but once you have completed thatching and aerating, fertilizing your grass is an important next step! Your soil has been spending all winter drawing out the nutrients that it needs, and now its time to re-nourish it. As the old saying goes, “an apple a day keeps the doctor away!” Talk to your local dealer to see what fertilizer is best for your lawn and watch your grass grow thick and lush. Spreaders can be purchased as walk behind products, tow behind, or mounted for behind your lawn tractor, side by side or tractor!
If you have a pesky weed problem, Spring is a good time to nip it while you can! Keeping your grass free of unhealthy weeds helps create healthy growth for your grass as the nutrients in the soil is saved for the vegetation you actually want, and of course aesthetically looks way better as well. You can purchase a handheld sprayer, backpack, tow behind sprayer or tractor mounted. There are plenty of good quality herbicide sprays you can purchase that cause no harm to you and are pet friendly as well. A good tip to note; make sure you spray on a day with no wind, that way you can better control where your herbicide is being directed.
Although it looks great to bag and remove the small trimmings from your lawn, consider purchasing a mulch kit for your mowing deck. A mulch kit takes the grass clippings and chews them up into tiny pieces and puts it back down into the grass where they are barely noticeable. This acts as a natural fertilizer and puts the nutrients from the healthy grass back down into the soil. Another benefit of mulching your grass is less manual labor of emptying the bags every few passes and helps the environment by having less garbage bags of waste going to the local landfill! Mulching is best under dry, maintained conditions. If you have let your grass get a bit too long, take the mulch kit off first to reduce clumping on top of our lawn, and retry once it’s back to a manicured length!
For more in-depth information on how to properly prepare your lawn this spring, visit, call or go online to speak with any of our sales, parts, or service professionals at your local Martin Deerline!