Most people desire to have a lush, green lawn but many people don’t know where to start. Luckily, with the right strategies, you can achieve the dream lawn you’ve always wanted! Let’s explore the best year-round lawn care plan to keep your yard in tip-top shape.
Spring Lawn Care Tips
Spring is the wonderful time of year when everything comes back to life, including your lawn! Now is the time to kickstart your lawn car maintenance to ensure it’s looking its best all summer long.1 Add these tips to your spring lawn care checklist:
Rake or Dethatch the Lawn
Before the first mow of the year, you should rake the yard thoroughly. This helps loosen matted grass clumps and reduces thatch (which is made up of dead grass, roots, and other organic material). Thatch prevents water and air from reaching the grass so this is a very important step!
A quick tip: avoid raking when the soil is soft, as this will help prevent pulling up healthy grass.
Aeration
Another effective way to alleviate thatch and compacted soil is to use an aerator. This removes plugs of soil so more air, water, and nutrients can reach the grassroots. Cool-season grasses require aeration in early spring or autumn, whereas warm-season grasses require aeration from late spring to summer. Further, you should aerate clay soils or highly trafficked areas once a year. To maintain a thriving lawn, it’s recommended to aerate every two to three years.
Fertilization
Believe it or not, there are optimal times to fertilize the lawn. Fertilizer should be applied about three weeks after the grass begins greening or after the first couple of mowings. If you fertilize too early, you risk creating fertilizer runoff and feeding weeds! Here are a few other quick tips to ensure you fertilize correctly:
- To avoid burning the roots, be sure to water the lawn a few days before laying down fertilizer.
- If you have undesirable crabgrass, use a fertilizer that has a crabgrass preventer.
- Use a spreader to make sure you apply the right amount of fertilizer and to ensure it’s evenly distributed. Walk back and forth in straight lines.
Seeding and Lime
Seeding isn’t always necessary if you have a lush, well-established lawn but the spring is a perfect time to look for bare spots of areas where growth is sparse. Keep in mind, if you are going to seed, spring and early fall are the best times.
Spring is also the perfect time to test your yard’s pH. This can help determine if your soil is too acidic. Acidic soil can increase weeds, moss, disease, and pests. It’s important to note that a pH between 5.8 and 7.2 is ideal for most grasses. Fortunately, you can get pH soil test kits at your local hardware store. Also, note that pH levels can change throughout the season, so test your soil yearly until it’s well established. Once you have a balanced lawn, you’ll only need to test every three years, give or take.
So, you might be wondering, what do I do if my soil is acidic? Fortunately, there’s a simple solution! A simple lime application can help make the soil less acidic. It can also help your grass absorb fertilizer and nutrients more efficiently. If your soil needs lime, spring and fall are the best times to apply it. Be sure to read the directions on the package to find out how much you should apply according to your lawn’s pH levels.
Summer Lawn Care Tips
After getting your lawn primed and ready for the season, it’s time to maintain it over the summer! Here are some of the best lawn care tips to keep your lawn in the best shape in the heat of the summer:
Mow At the Right Height
While you might be tempted to cut your grass short to prevent mowing as frequently, this can actually damage the grass. In the summer, it’s best to adjust your mower height to leave the grass taller.2 Taller grass provides shade for the soil, which helps prevent water evaporation. This can help encourage deeper roots and helps prevent weed seeds from germinating.
Water Properly
You’ll want to water the lawn deeply and infrequently for optimal lushness. Ideally, you want water long enough so that the water can reach a depth of four to six inches.3 Be careful not to overwater.
Signs of an overwatered lawn include grass that turns bright green and then goes limp or if the lawn feels squishy. Signs that your lawn is underwatered include yellow to brown grass (which indicates it’s thirsty), footprints that linger for more than 30 minutes after walking on it, and if the grass feels dry, crispy, or crunchy.4
Let Clippings Lie
You might be tempted to clean up lawn clippings but it’s best to leave them! This is called grasscycling. It will help save you time and money! Grass clippings will break down and help feed your lawn, so it’s not necessary to remove them.
Clean Up After Your Dog
Does the family dog have free range of the yard? You might want to train it to do its business in a designated area. Dog urine can cause dead spots on the lawn. To prevent this, you’ll want to flush the area with water to dilute the urine in your soil. That said, the better (and more effective!) solution is to create a designated area, perhaps with pebbles or mulch, and train them to do their business only there.
Tackle Weeds and Grubs
Weeds can spread quickly if you don’t get them under control. Pull weeds and consider applying a weed control, to keep your lawn free of weeds! Just be sure to carefully read the instructions and follow the label.
Grubs like June Bugs, Japanese Beetles, and European Chafers lay eggs in the early to mid-summer. The eggs hatch into grubs, so it’s important to get these under control too. Keep in mind the right timing will vary based on region, so it’s important to do your research to find the optimal time to put down grub control in your area.
Fall Lawn Care Tips
As the warm season comes to an end, the foliage will begin to change as will your lawn maintenance tasks. Here are a few tasks to add to your fall lawn care checklist:
Leaf Removal and Cleanup
As the trees change color, leaves will start to fall all over the lawn. Though pretty, you’ll want to clean them up throughout the season. But you have a few options!
One option is to collect leaves with a rake, leaf blower, or lawn sweeper. You can place them in yard waste bags if you have a local collection program. Alternatively, (and perhaps the better option) you can mulch the weeds using your mower and leave them on the lawn. Leaves can form a natural mulch for flower beds but they can also fertilize the soil.5
Feed the Lawn
Fall is also an excellent time to feed the lawn. With the cooler weather, the lawn will slow its top growth but the roots will continue to grow. Feeding the lawn in the fall can help ensure it receives vital nutrients to encourage deep root growth and helps ensure your lawn stores essential nutrients over the cold winter months.
Winter Lawn Care Tips
If you live in an area that gets winter, then you’ll have far fewer lawn maintenance tasks. But there are a few things to keep in mind. First, you should stop mowing the lawn after the first frost.6 Mowing the lawn too late in the season can expose it to the harsh elements.
It’s also a good idea to avoid walking on snow-covered or frozen grass. Too much foot traffic can damage the grass. Try to keep foot traffic on a direct path that goes around the lawn. Finally, be sure to store all your lawn equipment and supplies out of the cold. Fertilizer and grass seed need to be kept in a dry, safe place until they’re ready to be used again.
Lawn Care Services
Some people prefer to take care of their lawn on their own and that’s okay! Others don’t have the time or resources. Fortunately, there are tons of lawn care services that do all the work for you. Lawn care professionals have the knowledge and resources to get your yard in tip-top shape and they can maintain it. Be sure to research and compare different lawn care services in your area and ask for quotes to find a company that is within your budget.
Learn More About Lawn Care Tips
Taking care of your lawn year-round is essential if you want a lush, thriving lawn. Fortunately, with a few simple tips you can keep it in tip-top shape. And if you prefer to take a hands-off approach, professional lawn care services are there to help. Keep learning about the best strategies for lawn care to discover the best tips for your climate. A luscious lawn is within reach!