It’s that time of the year again when everything is fresh and new and the birds are out and the flowers are blooming! Spring, in all its natural glory, is finally here! Now that you’ve seen the flowers around you; aren’t you keen to get your own yard in order so you can enjoy the best of nature right from your home? No more need to use the HVAC system for heat. Spring is here and summer is coming and soon the yard will be overgrown if you don't jump in and get the lawn ready for summer.
Here are a few yard maintenance tips for this spring that will have your lawn looking lush and beautiful in no time!
1. Check your equipment before you attempt any yard maintenance
Any lawn will benefit from the right mix of tools used in the right manner. Some integral garden equipment for your lawn encompasses trowels, shovels, hoses, spades, rakes and gardening shears. Now that winter’s over, you should first check on all your gardening tools and equipment to ensure that everything is good to go!
2. Use a Good Hose
Now that spring’s here, you’ll need to water your lawn more often to ensure the grass, shrubs and other plants have enough to get a good start! Opt for a sturdy, well-built hose which is not only durable but also light, so you can lug it all over the lawn. Another feature of a good hose is the length. It should be long enough to reach the farther reaches of your lawn from your lawn water tap. Hoses tend to get damaged if they’re left out in the sun for too long, so you may want to keep yours indoors after use!
3. Raking Dead Leaves
Dead leaves are a great source of nitrogen, but the downside to them is they look quite ugly and make the lawn look unkempt as well as blocking your HVAC Condenser and Gutters. Since spring is the season for planting, you can try raking everything up, composting it for a bit and then spreading it all over the lawn for natural fertilization. As far as yard maintenance tips for this spring go, this one is an absolute must for you!
4. Aerating the Soil
Aerating the soil is a technique most farmers use, which is also very ideal for your yard. Since you only have to do it once or twice a year, you can opt to rent an aerator rather than buy. The aerator rotates the soil around so water, oxygen and any fertilizer can reach all the way down thus leading to healthier and faster growth!
5. Removing Bald Spots
Every lawn has its fair share of bald spots where the grass doesn’t seem to grow. Now that spring is here, you can opt to put in new turf or seed new grass in these spots so there’s no stress of having bald spots once the grass starts growing in. If the spots persist, you may want to get a soil sample done to check on the nutrients that are lacking in those soil sections.
6. Over-Seeding
One of the tricks to having thick, luxurious grass on your lawn is to over-seed. This ensures that no areas are left blank, thus giving a patchy appearance to the yard. New grass seeds work to thicken the existing turn as well as to give new life to bare areas of your lawn!
7. Watering
One of the best maintenance tips for your yard is learning how to water it. Watering before the grass begins to grow can lead to shorter roots, since the roots don’t have to travel far to look for water. This, in turn, will make your grass turn yellow when a dry spell comes along. The best time to water your lawn is a bit later in the season, once the roots have developed.
8. Fertilizing & Pest Control
Apart from the natural compost fertilizer, you can also opt for store-bought fertilizer which will help your grass grow and make your lawn look lusher than ever. There are different types of fertilizers for different climates, so you need to do a bit of research first to find out what type fits best for your lawn. You can also buy fertilizers that will help with your pest control of your lawn as the spring is when the pests start to infest.
9. Mowing
Now that spring is here, mowing is a must! The first few times that you mow your lawn in spring, reduce the height settings on your lawn mower. Also ensure your lawn mower blade is sharp because a dull blade will only tear off your grass instead of cutting, thus leading to bald spots on your lawn! The lower height will help the sun and the surface soil nutrients get into the roots for healthy grass.
10. Weed Out
Weeds can overcome and destroy all your grass or turf, thus leading to a very unhealthy, unkempt yard. Weeding is thus one of the main yard maintenance projects for spring! Weeds take up all the soil nutrients and can cause your grass to die out very fast, which is why it’s important to weed out before planting new grass. If you have a lot of weeds that you cannot handle by yourself, you can opt for an organic herbicide which will get rid of them. It’s time to eliminate the competition!