healthy lawn starts with good preventative care all year long. Maintenance tasks like fertilizing, aerating, and power-raking are just like changing the oil in the car. Although it may seem unnecessary, if the maintenance wasn't performed serious problems would eventually arise. Putting in a little bit of time, on lawn maintenance every month, saves work in the long run and results in a healthier lawn every day of the year.
Spring Lawn Care
Early spring is an excellent time to overseed bare patches and prevent weeds from invading. Heavy duty maintenance tasks like power-raking and aeration can be performed in spring. When thatch build up becomes excessive, the shallow roots of the grass have a hard time reaching the soil; consequently this reduces drought tolerance, impairs lawn health, and encourages disease.
Summer Lawn Care
After the intense rush of growth is over, it's a good time to get in an application of fertilizer. Apply one pound of slow-release lawn fertilizer, with high levels of nitrogen, for every 1,000 square feet of lawn area. Scout for perennial weeds like thistles, plantains, and dandelions and treat with a broadleaf insecticide, which doesn't kill grasses. Perennial weeds grow strong root systems that allow them to grow back after herbicide. Spray these weeds early in the season when they are easier to kill.
As the temperatures rise, it's time to start watering, however watering the lawn is not necessary. It's better to not water at all than to stop half way through the season. Cool season grasses like blue grass, fescue, and ryegrass will go dormant during the hottest months of the summer. Warm season grasses, like St. Augustine grass and Bermuda grass, can be watered once or twice a week, using a sprinkler system. Water until three-quarters of an inch has penetrated the soil, or a screwdriver easily pokes into the ground six inches. Watch for die-outs caused by grubs or webworm moths and treat with an insecticide.
Fall Lawn Care
Fall in the best time for lawn maintenance tasks like reseeding and aerating. Aerating is an invasive procedure that removes plugs of sod and dirt, using long hollow tines. Because aerating is invasive it should be done in August or September when the lawn will have at least a month to recover. Aerating is important for lawn health in high-traffic areas and heavy clay soil where compaction is a problem. If the soil is naturally acidic, get a soil test done and add lime to raise the pH, if necessary. Apply a round of slow-release fertilizer before putting the lawn to bed.
Winter Lawn Care
Early winter is the time to apply pre-emergent weed and feed to prevent the cool season annuals, like chickweed, from sprouting. In warm areas of the U.S., continue watering the lawn once a month. The first maintenance tasks of the new year need to be performed in late winter before the warm season annual weeds start to sprout. Crabgrass is the chief-offender when it comes to annual weeds. Pre-emergent herbicides, also called weed and feed, have to be applied at just the right time to prevent the crabgrass and annual weeds from germinating. The general rule is to apply pre-emergents after the forsythias are finished flowering, but before the lilacs start blooming.
Spring Lawn Care
Early spring is an excellent time to overseed bare patches and prevent weeds from invading. Heavy duty maintenance tasks like power-raking and aeration can be performed in spring. When thatch build up becomes excessive, the shallow roots of the grass have a hard time reaching the soil; consequently this reduces drought tolerance, impairs lawn health, and encourages disease.
Summer Lawn Care
After the intense rush of growth is over, it's a good time to get in an application of fertilizer. Apply one pound of slow-release lawn fertilizer, with high levels of nitrogen, for every 1,000 square feet of lawn area. Scout for perennial weeds like thistles, plantains, and dandelions and treat with a broadleaf insecticide, which doesn't kill grasses. Perennial weeds grow strong root systems that allow them to grow back after herbicide. Spray these weeds early in the season when they are easier to kill.
As the temperatures rise, it's time to start watering, however watering the lawn is not necessary. It's better to not water at all than to stop half way through the season. Cool season grasses like blue grass, fescue, and ryegrass will go dormant during the hottest months of the summer. Warm season grasses, like St. Augustine grass and Bermuda grass, can be watered once or twice a week, using a sprinkler system. Water until three-quarters of an inch has penetrated the soil, or a screwdriver easily pokes into the ground six inches. Watch for die-outs caused by grubs or webworm moths and treat with an insecticide.
Fall Lawn Care
Fall in the best time for lawn maintenance tasks like reseeding and aerating. Aerating is an invasive procedure that removes plugs of sod and dirt, using long hollow tines. Because aerating is invasive it should be done in August or September when the lawn will have at least a month to recover. Aerating is important for lawn health in high-traffic areas and heavy clay soil where compaction is a problem. If the soil is naturally acidic, get a soil test done and add lime to raise the pH, if necessary. Apply a round of slow-release fertilizer before putting the lawn to bed.
Winter Lawn Care
Early winter is the time to apply pre-emergent weed and feed to prevent the cool season annuals, like chickweed, from sprouting. In warm areas of the U.S., continue watering the lawn once a month. The first maintenance tasks of the new year need to be performed in late winter before the warm season annual weeds start to sprout. Crabgrass is the chief-offender when it comes to annual weeds. Pre-emergent herbicides, also called weed and feed, have to be applied at just the right time to prevent the crabgrass and annual weeds from germinating. The general rule is to apply pre-emergents after the forsythias are finished flowering, but before the lilacs start blooming.