Lawn Care - How to Care for Your Lawn in Spring

Introduction

Spring is the time to rake up those dead leaves and slugs, plant seeds, and start caring for your lawn. It's also the time to take stock of your yard and decide what it looks like and how it needs to change to be the best it can be.

Keeping a healthy lawn is important for your enjoyment, and it's also good for the environment. It will also save you money on your water bill and help prevent soil erosion, which can cause property damage and make our lakes and streams toxic.

Types of Grass

A good lawn is a happy mix of grasses, flowering plants, and groundcovers (weeds). Some types of turf are better suited to certain climates than others, so grass breeding is constantly improving varieties that work well in our regions.

Lawns vary in height and density, and they can be coarse or fine. Coarse grasses are used for sports, and finer grasses are often found in ornamental lawns for their visual appeal.

Importance of Lawn Care?

To keep your lawn healthy, it's important to mow regularly and bag clippings instead of throwing them away. This keeps nutrients from escaping into the air and helps prevent diseases in the soil, which can harm your grass.

Mowing and Clipping Management

It's also helpful to use an up-to-date mulching mower to grind up the clippings and allow them to decompose on the lawn. Alternatively, you could mix in low-growing flowering plants like red and white clover to boost the nitrogen content of your lawn.

Fertilizing Your Lawn

Fertilize your grass regularly and in the right amounts, as directed by a soil test. This is a critical part of natural lawn care because as the grass uses up its own nutrients, it will need to replenish them from fertilizer.

Improving Soil Quality

? Top-dress the soil if it's thin or clay-heavy with organic matter, and add an inch of compost, peat moss, or coir (coconut fiber) to improve water-holding ability and encourage earthworms.

? If your soil has a problem with pH, consider adding a sulfur-based compost to lower the acidity levels. This is more effective than peat moss and works especially well if your soil has high alkalinity.

? Using leaf Mold or other natural compost on the soil's surface will also help with poor soil. These composts will lower the soil's pH and add organic matter to the soil. They also improve soil structure and help prevent weeds by preventing them from getting too much sunlight, which can kill the grass.

Managing Thatch and Compaction

? Removing thatch and other dead root stems and partially decayed organic matter can also be beneficial for your lawn. Thatch typically forms in weak or biologically inactive soils and can be removed with a power dethatching tool.

? Aerating the soil by poking holes is another effective method to relieve compaction. This helps to make the roots penetrate deeper into the soil and can even improve soil quality by increasing oxygen circulation, which is vital for good grass growth.

? If your soil is very compacted, you may need to add a layer of weed cloth or other material on top. This makes the lawn easier to manage, as it will be able to hold more water and nutrients than the existing soil.

Conclusion

Maintaining a healthy lawn is not only beneficial for your enjoyment but also for the environment. It helps you save money on your water bill, prevents soil erosion, and keeps our lakes and streams from becoming toxic.