Spring Lawn Care Schedule

If you have been a homeowner for any length of time you know and realize that maintaining a beautiful lawn takes a lot of hard work that goes beyond those hot days of summer. Providing quality care for your lawn begins in the early spring time and carries on far into the fall months before you finally allow it to go dormant over the long winter months. Even the most experienced homeowners though can get confused about what is the best spring lawn care schedule to maintain. If you are really into it though and have been into it for a while, eventually you will learn how to develop your own spring lawn care schedule which will take into account all the individual needs of your specific soil and grass.

Thatching

It doesn't matter where you live, normally the number one thing that you have to do for any spring lawn care schedule thatching. Thatch has a tendency to build up over the summer and the cold weather months, and tends to choke out the law and keeping air and nutrients from getting down into the roots where it is needed most. You can do thatching by using a regular metal rake or a specific thatching tool which you can rent from a local rental store if you don't have one. This should be done early in your spring lawn care schedule so that your grass will have time to breathe and soak in all the important moisture and nutrients that it so badly needs.

Soil Preparation

The next thing that you want on your spring lawn care schedule is an examination of your soil. Soil tests can be done at home if you have a soil test kit. These test kits can be bought from any of your local garden centers. Doing this test will allow you to find out what's nutrients your soil is lacking most so you can provide it with the right nutrient mixture fertilizer. Another thing that is very important to check for is soil compaction. Having compacted soil can make it really difficult for air and nutrients to get below the surface and down into the root system. If you have compacted soil the best solution is to add aeration to your spring lawn care schedule. One good sign that you have compacted soil that is pretty easy to pick up on, are advertisements. If you are receiving a lot of advertisements for soil aeration service then it might be a good bet that you do have compacted soil. You can either take advantage of one of those offers or you can do it yourself by using a machine which you can rent from your local garden center or rental store.

Feeding and Watering

After you have the right mix of fertilizer picked out from the information that you received from your soil analysis, you can then add the feeding schedule to your spring lawn care. Your lawn will only need a light fertilizing, which is the normal recommendation, and this will ensure that your lawn has plenty of color and growth in the early months of the season. Having a lawn spreader will ensure that you get your fertilizer spread across your lawn in a smooth and even layer. This will provide you with the best results. Often times water at this time comes from mother nature, but keeping a rain gauge on hand will ensure that your lawn is getting the right amount of moisture at all times. By having a rain gauge you can monitor it and determine whether your lawn is actually getting the right amount of water, and if it's not, it might be time to break out the sprinkler or the hose and give it a good dousing.

A spring lawn care schedule is not a hard thing to come up with and it will ensure you that your yard is ready for those long summer months ahead, and will continue to grow are lush and green through this whole time. Following these tips is the perfect way to give your lawn a kickstart for another truly great season.