After months of seeing a brown lawn periodically showing itself from beneath a blanket of snow, your lawn is beginning to green up for spring. You may want to jump right in with well intentioned efforts to give your lawn a boost, but don't get too carried away. If you go overboard now, you can actually do more harm than good. Here are a few tips to give your lawn a great start.
Do Over-seed!
Winter can be hard on your lawn. High traffic areas, areas around bird feeders, and shaded areas that takes snow longer to melt can all become worn and a little thin. Over-seeding the entire lawn and patching bare spots can have the entire lawn looking healthy and hardy within a few weeks.
Don't Go Crazy With Fertilizer
One of the easiest mistakes that you can make when it comes to spring lawn care is to apply too much fertilizer. Fertilizer is great for lawn, but applying it in the spring can cause some problems later on. If you apply too much fertilizer, it will stimulate the grass to grow top growth. Although it will look green and lush, this top growth comes at the expense of the roots. Then when the dryness of late summer sets in you will be left with a brown, scorched lawn. Use a fertilizer that is low in nitrogen during the spring, and apply it lightly. Then continue to fertilize throughout the season, and bump up the nitrogen level in mid-June. This will create the best results.
Know When to Mow
Mowing at the wrong time in the spring can do more harm than good. Right now my yard is beginning to look like it needs bailed, but I just haven't had a good opportunity to mow yet. Avoid mowing when your lawn is water logged from spring rains. This can be harmful both from the perspective of mud, but it can also damage new growth. Also avoid mowing if you know it is going to frost or dip below freezing that night. If you're like me and you wait to mow, don't cut it all off at once. If I let my lawn get too tall, I have found that cutting it by thirds until I get back to an acceptable height (about 2.5 inches for me) gives the best result.
I think spring is the time of year gardeners look forward to the most. Our flower beds and gardens are blank slates wiped clean by winter's pure white embrace. Now with spring rains comes hope. Each drop holds the hope of new life, of resurrection. It is the time of year everyone can see the miracle of creation, of life renewed.
