How to Get Your Lawn Ready for Summer

Springtime is an exciting time for everyone! Its arrival is the light at the end of the tunnel from the harsh winter. The days start getting longer, temperatures are rising, and you can finally see your lawn peeking through the snow. The signs of warmer months are indicators that you need to store your snowblower away, get your lawnmower tuned up, and start getting your lawn ready for summer! We have compiled a list of a few things to help you out with this task.

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Dethatch Your Lawn to Allow New Growth

When the snow finally melts and the ground dries out, it’s time to start raking…a lot. Raking has nothing to do with any leaves and everything to do with thatch. Thatch is a layer of dead grass that accumulates between the blades of living grass. Regardless of if you bag your clippings in the summer or mulch them, the winter always brings a new layer of thatch that can impede new growth in your lawn. This thatch can easily be reduced by one of our dethatching services, a power rake, or a regular rake with a whole lot of work and patience.

Aerate to Reach the Root Zone

Even if you don’t walk on your lawn all that often, the soil will naturally begin to compact and harden. Hard soil makes it difficult for the roots of your grass to grow and expand. Therefore, it can hinder moisture and nutrients from reaching the roots of your lawn. Aeration combats compaction by pulling small cores of soil out of the lawn. This allows moisture, nutrients, and oxygen to reach the root zone level of your yard. Directly after an aeration is performed, the cores taken out of the lawn remain on the surface. This can look unpleasant but they usually vanish in about 2 weeks. So, an aeration should be performed once a year in either the spring or the fall.

Overseed to Thicken Your Lawn

It is frustrating to be cursed with patchy or thin grass. Luckily, there is an easy remedy to help even out and make your lawn grow thicker. Evenly spreading grass seed over your already existing lawn can help it to grow thicker and fuller. This can be performed using a fertilizer spread. We normally recommend that overseeding be paired with an aeration, and can be performed in the fall as well.

Fertilize to Add Nurtrients to Your Lawn

Over time, lawns absorb much of the naturally occurring nutrients and minerals found in soil. Depleted soil makes it difficult for a lawn to grow to its fullest potential. Fertilizers replenish the depleted soils and supply the lawn with vital nutrients. We recommend 3-5 applications of fertilizer per season, beginning with the spring application. The applications are applied in either a granular or liquid form.

Apply Preemergent Herbicide

Everyone who has ever tried to keep a weed-free lawn knows what an uphill battle it can be. Win the first battle in the war on weeds by applying a preemergent herbicide. Preemergent kills unwanted crab crass and other weeds before they even germinate. Preemergent is a barrier that keeps weeds from seeing the surface.

There is a catch to preemergent. It also is effective against keeping grass seeds from germinating, as well as weeds. For those who elect to aerate and overseed in the spring, preemergent is not something that should be applied. But, for those who postpone their aeration and overseed until the fall, preemergent is a great start to fighting your weed problem.

Plan your Lawn Maintenance Schedule

Spring is a great time to plan how you are going to keep your lawn in great shape for the summer. Use this time to plan if you’ll aerate and overseed in the spring or in the fall. Schedule your fertilizer applications. Plan what days you are going to water and how much water you should use. At the very least, planning will generate even more excitement for the warm summer months to come!

Now you have all the tips and tricks on getting your lawn ready for summer. Enjoy the season while it lasts!