Prepare Your Lawn for Spring!
Spring is HERE already! Gardening is on everyone’s mind… But have you thought about lawn care yet? Don’t let the summer arrive, and realize your lawn is thin, dry and riddled with weeds. Get ahead of your neighbors, and have them green with envy after you use these 5 easy steps to prepare your lawn for the upcoming season.
1. Give Your Lawn a DEEP RAKING
Giving your lawn a good raking is like spring cleaning for your grass! Removing debris, dead grass and fallen leaves gives your lawn some room to breath and a head start on the growing season.
2. Aerate if Needed
If your soil has been compacted (by heavy traffic, furniture, etc), aerating can be extremely helpful. The aerating process creates air pockets in the soil that helps your grass root out and absorb more nutrients. Manually aerate your lawn using specialized sandals with spikes on the soles, or using a garden fork. You can also get gas powered aerators if you have a larger area groom.
3. Assess Soil Acidity
Asses the pH of your soil using a testing kit purchased at the garden centre or hardware store. Here in Nova Scotia we have something called acid rain, and it makes our soils and waterways more acidic than our lawns would like. You may find you need to add powdered or pelletized lime to increase the pH of your soil making it less acidic.
4. Seed Bare Spots
Be sure to seed any bare and compacted parts of your lawn. To give your lawn a nice refresh and to thicken it up for the season, it’s helpful to seed your entire lawn with a light coat of a good quality grass seed. We love and use a variety of Scotts Turf Builder Products.
5. Fertilize
Fafard has a great line of Fertilizers that are fool proof. We recommend Fafard Step 1&2 lawn fertilizer for the spring and summer seasons. It will give your lawn the boost it needs to get started and grow a thick and vibrant lawn.
Blaire Slaunwhite ~ Author
Oceanview Home and Garden