May 17, 2023
Looking to get your lawn ready for spring? Check out some great tips below for adding life to your lawn!
Foot traffic and lawn machinery can compact the soil under your lawn, creating a difficult environment for grass roots and soil microbes. You’ll want to aerate your lawn to create air passages in the soil. These are necessary so that water, air and nutrients can move into the roots. To loosen hard, compacted soil, you can use a hand-held or machine-powered aerator to remove small cores of soil. You can also strap on a pair of aerator sandals and walk around your yard. Spikes on the bottom of the sandals create small impressions in the soil, allowing for tiny passageways for air and water. Avoid future compaction by minimizing foot and machinery traffic, or by creating permanent walkways.
Turf, which likely makes up the bulk of your law, depends on healthy soil to thrive. Applying pelletized compost and a slow-release organic fertilizer, can encourage grass roots to penetrate deeper into the soil, stimulating growth. Healthy, biologically-active soil has the texture and trace nutrients plants need to resist stress, disease and insect damage. If you live in the northern half of the U.S., early fall is the best time to fertilize your lawn. This gives cool-climate grasses time to strengthen before winter. In the southern half of the U.S,. warm-climate grasses predominate. These grasses should be fertilized lightly, several times between early spring and late summer.
Species native to your region typically need little care once established and offer food sources and nesting materials for native animals and insects. Specifically, ornamental grasses are a great option to cover ground in a more interesting way than a standard clipped lawn. Adding native plants to your landscape design will help to create a beautiful yet low-maintenance outdoor space. Since these plants thrive in your natural climate, they’ll create healthy and strong fillers with minimal upkeep. Using native plants also helps to create habitats for local birds and critters!
Thatch is the dead grass between the soil layer and the living grass. A little thatch is a good thing; it helps to act as insulation against more extreme temperatures. However, an accumulation of thatch over a half-inch thick can deter air and water movement while inviting disease and pests. Excessive thatch may occur because of too much nitrogen fertilizer, acidity or lack of lime in the soil, frequent and shallow watering, and a lack of earthworms (often due to chemical pesticides). Usually, late spring and early fall are the best times to dethatch your lawn. Do not dethatch too early in spring! This will disturb the delicate baby grass that is still germinating at this time.
Grass is a sun-hungry plant. By strategically removing a few branches or carefully trimming lower limbs, you’ll give it more sunlight. This can also improve air circulation, which helps cool your lawn during hot, humid conditions. In many cases, your trees and shrubs will look better too. If you love your trees and shrubs just the way they are, consider replacing grass with shade-tolerant ground covers or decorative mulch.
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