With spring upon us, our attention turns to warmer weather ahead and the joys that the warm weather brings with it. But spring is also the time of year when many things need to be done around the home. There are tasks to take care of both inside and outside of the home and one such task is preparing your lawn for the months ahead.
As winter is just breaking for most of the northern states and the lawns are beginning to peak out from under the snow that has covered them for weeks or months, you will notice the damage that the harsh winter has done to your normally green lawn. You need not worry through as a few simple steps will bring back that rich green lawn you so desire. If you happen to live in areas with mild winters, the damage may not be as severe, but your lawn will still require some attention.
Your lawn will have a flattened appearance from the weight of the snow that has covered it for several months. A simple raking is all that is needed to make the grass stand upright again. However, there is a right way and wrong way to rake your lawn. The right way to rake your lawn is to use a plastic leaf rake and gently rake the lawn to make it stand up. Do not apply pressure; only use the weight of the rake. The wrong way to rake your lawn is the use a de-thatching metal rake and. A metal rake used to remove thatch is much too aggressive to use on a tender spring lawn. You will end up pulling the grass out by the roots and severely damaging your lawn using this method.
A thatching rake is more suitable for use in the late summer or early fall when your lawn is still securely routed, but is showing some signs of drought and browning. A thatching rake is used to remove the dead brown grass from lawn areas exposing the live green grass that is underneath. In the early spring, the grass is not yet alive and growing and you will end up ripping out most of your lawn by using this thatching rake.
Once you have gently raked your grass you can remove and discard of any of the material that your rake picked up during the process. At this time, you will be able to overseed you lawn. Overseeding is a process where you spread additional grass seed over the entire lawn to end up with a fuller lawn in the late spring. Overseeding is essential because many varieties of grass only live for a certain amount of time, and other types of grass do not come back on a yearly basis. Overseeding also wards off weeds and crabgrass. Weeds and crabgrass rely on open lawn areas to grow. If you lawn is dense and full, the sunlight cannot reach the roots of these weeds and they cannot grow.
The overseeding process is very simple and straightforward. Simply purchase a bag of grass seed from your local supply store, I prefer a seed that is a mixture of a few local types of grass, spread the seed over your entire lawn, and water in. You are done. If you have a large lawn area, you may choose to use a spreader to disperse the grass seed, I simply just do it by hand. You do not have to be exact and you can certainly put more seed in bare areas when you are doing this by hand.
By overseeding in early spring, the rain that comes will help you water the seed. If no rain falls after you have completed overseeding, then I recommend that you lightly water the lawn twice a week.
Note: Do not put any weed and feed on your lawn for at least 4 weeks after overseeding. The weed and feed will prevent the grass seed from germinating and you will end up wasting all of your effort.
Your grass is now ready for the summer months ahead. Now you can turn your attention to other tasks such as tuning up your lawn mower to cut your beautiful, thick lawn that will soon come up.
