Tag: spring lawn care tips

Spring lawn maintenance of your lawn is important to the overall health of your lawn. In London, Ontario and surrounding area,  spring clean up should focus on cleaning up winter debris, preparing the lawn for new growth, and addressing any damage from the winter, caused by snow clearing or sitting water etc. This includes tasks like raking, mowing, aerating, and fertilizing, with a potential for overseeding if necessary.

Steps to help create a lush lawn for the summer season.

1. Clean Up:

• Remove Debris: Clean up leaves, twigs, and other winter debris to expose the soil and allow sunlight to reach the grass.
• Tools to Use: A leaf rake works well to gather all debris on your lawn, if cleaning up a smaller area. A leaf blower or backpack blower can be helpful for larger areas.

2. Mow the Lawn:

• First Mow: Aim for a first cut in early to mid-May, depending on the weather and growth.
• Regular Mowing: Establish a regular mowing schedule, ideally weekly, to keep the grass at a manageable length.

3. Aerate:

• Improve Soil Health: Lawn aeration is the process of puncturing the soil, by creating small holes or slices in the soil, which is crucial for allowing air, water, and nutrients to penetrate the roots, especially in compacted areas of your lawn.
• Core Aeration: Consider core aeration for a more thorough job of soil improvement. This process is a type of aeration that extracts small plugs of soil from a lawn to increase air flow.
• Tools to Use: Using tools such as a pitchfork, manual aerator, or a power aerator that removes soil cores, are the best tools for this task.

4. Dethatch (Optional):

• Remove Matted Grass: Lawn dethatching primarily removes the thatch layer, a buildup of dead grass and organic matter between the soil and live grass blades. This process also improves soil drainage, and allows better penetration of water, air, and nutrients, and promotes healthier grass growth.
• Tools to use: A lawn scarifier is the best tool to help you to thatch lawns. Both use a vertically rotating cylinder and teeth-like blades to penetrate and remove dense thatch. If doing the job manually a dethatching rake could also be the tool of choice.
• Best Time: The best time to dethatch is when the lawn is actively growing and the soil is moderately moist, early spring or early fall would be your best times to complete this task.

5. Fertilize:

• Spring Lawn Feed: Apply a spring fertilizer to provide the grass with the necessary nutrients for growth. Be sure to follow instructions as to how to apply the fertilizer for best results, to be sure not to over apply and risk burning your lawn.
• Soil Test: Consider a soil test to determine the specific needs of your lawn. A soil test can help determine the nutrient content and pH level of your soil which can help to avoid over-fertilization, and diagnose potential problems.
• Fertilizer Types: Look for fertilizers such as 25-10-10 which is a great spring fertilizer or 16-16-16 which works well as an all purpose fertilizer at Baseline Nurseries.

6. Overseeding (If needed):

• Fill in Bare Patches: Overseeding involves spreading new grass seed over an existing lawn to fill in bare spots, thicken the turf, and potentially introduce better grass varieties. It’s a great way to revive a thin or damaged lawn without starting from scratch, several varieties of grass seed are also available at Baseline Nurseries.
• Timing: In London Ontario, Spring, particularly from April to early May, is a suitable time for overseeding. Before the summer heat sets in.  Late summer or early fall (late August to mid-October) is also an excellent time to overseed, as the cool temperatures and adequate moisture promote seed germination.

7. Weed and Pest Control: spot check for weeds and insects

• Manual Removal: Pull any broadleaf weeds by hand.
• Annual weeds: prevent flowering by mowing and/or hand pulling, to reduce the spread of these know weeds.
• Grass weeds: apply a pre-emergent (prevents germination) treatment. Try corn gluten meal or something similar, we do carry this product at Baseline Nurseries as well.
• Grass Seed: Varieties that contain Perennial rye grass mix will minimize chinch bugs, bluegrass billbugs and sod webworms.
• Keep Control of the Critters:  Apply nematodes (available at Baseline Nurseries) for grubs, to prevent rodents such as skunks and racoons digging up your lawn to find their lunch.

8. Mower Maintenance:

• Tune-Up: Ensure your lawnmower is in good working order before the start of the season. The best time to do this is during the long winter months.
• Blade Sharpening: Sharpen the mower blades for a clean cut. A good rule of thumb is to sharpen, every 20 to 25 hours of use, or at least once per mowing season. The best practice is to take care of this task about twice a year for homeowners with average lawns, and potentially more frequently for larger lawns or lawns with rough condition.

9. Watering:

• Deep Watering:  Water deeply with penetration of 2.5 cm or 1 inch, a good deep watering less frequently is better than several shallow waterings.  Water before 10:00 am if possible, as this will help avoid evaporation. Follow any regional water restrictions implemented in your area.

 

 

• Or Let the Lawn go Dormant: You can let a healthy lawn go dormant during extended dry periods. It can survive four to six weeks without adequate water.
• If you decide to let the lawn, go dormant, water only during an extreme drought or if lawn is under stress or renovation to begin with.
• If your lawn is dormant:
  • Check regularly for insect pests!
  • Keep traffic off
  • Stop mowing!
  • Do not fertilize!

By following the month-by-month guide below, you can help your lawn thrive in the spring and enjoy a beautiful, healthy lawn for the summer, and into the fall.

Month-by-month guide – as per Landscape Ontario