almost PERFECT Lawn Maintenance Services
Spring Lawn Tips
Ladies; IS THIS YOUR HUSBAND???
Oh boy, it’s that time of the year again. It’s time to sharpen the blades, clean up the under carriage if you didn’t last autumn and fire up the ole Briggs and Stratton and go for a walk around the yard. Don’t you love it?
To get you started off on the right foot; almost PERFECT Landscaping offers a few lawn tips to get you into the growing season this spring. That beautiful green carpet that enhances your property needs scheduled and necessary care.
Begin with raking – Raking your lawn is probably how you finished working in the yard late last fall. In the spring it is a good idea to begin everything with that same rake. Give your yard a thorough, deep raking before you begin to mow or treat the grass. Raking allows you to pull up any thatch that may have accumulated over the winter when the grass was less springy. It also gives you a chance to find any dead spots or compacted areas that need special attention. When a lawn becomes compacted, you need to use an aerator to loosen the soil and allow the grass to grow more easily once more.
If you know that your lawn is prone to weeds, early spring can be a good time to apply herbicides to prevent the weeds from developing. It is much easier to get rid of persistent weeds before they have a chance to form than to deal with them once they have fully matured.
Other Spring Lawn Tasks
Aeration: is best done during your lawn’s peak growing season. For warm-season grasses, this means early to mid-summer. For cool-season grasses, aeration is best saved for fall but can be repeated in spring if the soil is extremely compacted. Wait until your lawn has been mowed 2-3 times in the season, so you’ll be sure it is growing fast enough to recover from the aeration.
Dethatching: also best done during peak growing season, right before aerating.
Mowing: Begin mowing as soon as your lawn needs it – grass blades do best when you cut no more than a third of the blade’s length at a time.
Watering: Once your grass starts growing, you’ll need to make sure your lawn gets at least 1” of water per week. Until then, you can water less frequently but remember that cold air is very drying to plants and lawns.
Insect control: Spring is a good time to address problems with fire ants. Many other insects, such as grubs and mole crickets, may also cause damage to your lawn in spring but are more effectively controlled later in the summer.
Fertilization: Even the healthiest lawn gets hungry and needs a solid meal. Twice a year, spring and fall, is the bare minimum most experts recommend for fertilization, though some add a feeding in the middle of the summer. As with all plant choices, climate plays a big role in determining which type of grass will work best for you — soil type, rainfall and other factors also come into it. As a general rule, cool-season grasses go dormant during the warm weather, and warm-season grasses go dormant during the coolest months of the year; in areas where it’s possible to have a green lawn all year round, you want a mixture of both these types.
almost PERFECT Landscaping offer complete lawn maintenance services in programs in Bergen County. Super service award winner at ANGIES LIST for 6 straight years; almost PERFECT Landscaping can give you that “perfect lawn” to enjoy. Give us a call at 201-389-6979 or drop us an email if you need some help.
almost PERFECT Landscaping of Bergen County