Spring showers may bring May flowers, but only if you take enough care of your yard to promote their growth. The one benefit to winter is that it does not have to deal with much in terms of lawn care, but now that spring has sprung, the lazy days on the couch are long behind you. So how exactly do you prepare your yard now that spring is here? Here are a few tips for lawn care newbies.
Get Rid of Larger Debris
The first step to take when preparing your yard for the spring is to eliminate larger debris. You’re likely to have twigs and branches from neighboring trees, among other random elements, lying in your lawn, so grab a pair of gardening gloves and clear it all!
Most sanitation departments will take this debris and break it down into mulch, so look into the local options available to you before tossing everything in the trash!
Unfortunately, You Need to Rake Again
You can be the best raker in the entire raking world, but regardless of how spotless your job was in the fall, now that spring is here, you’ve got to hit the lawn all over again.
Not only are you doing this to remove any leftover leaves that may have ended up in your yard over the past several months, but you’re also doing this to remove any dead grass suffocating your lawn, otherwise known as thatch. To ensure your grass grows exactly as you want it to in the months to come, you need first to make sure it has plenty of breathing room by running over all of it with a rake. It’s tedious work, but the results speak for themselves.
Throw Down Some Weed & Feed
Luckily, this is a single product that will simultaneously combat any emergent weeds while fertilizing your grass so that it’s ready to grow. Skipping this step will not only ensure a year-long battle with weeds such as crabgrass, but will also leave you with a spotty, imbalanced yard that will be an eyesore throughout the entire summer.
Make Sure You Mow Every 5 Days, Once Weather Permits
Mowing the lawn, despite popular belief, doesn’t wait until summer. In fact, you’ll want to start mowing your lawn in the spring, and you’ll want to do so more than once a week.
As soon as you notice the weather is consistently above forty degrees, and your lawn has grown to about two or three inches, you are ready to start mowing and should do so around every five days.
Put in Fresh Mulch
You’ve likely noticed the complete mess that your mulched lawn areas have become, which means it’s time to throw down something fresh. Fresh mulch will spruce up those areas and make them look and feel brand new! Pro tip: if you invest in natural bark mulch, you’ll notice it lasts longer, which means you don’t have to replace it as often.
Trim Your Trees
Finally, while the trees are still bare, it’s the perfect time to trim them back, especially if they are encroaching on your house. Dead branches often go unrecognized, so if you’re inexperienced in this regard, you can always hire professionals to come out and perform a safety trim once a year to once every three years in the spring.
As soon as the temperatures adjust and the spring weather is consistent, you’ve got quite a bit of work to do in your yard. The above list is a great starting point to ensure your yard is not only summer-ready but also the envy of all your neighbors come barbecue season.