As the winter cold leaves us and we transition into the warmer months of the year, it’s time to get stuck into some lawn maintenance! Follow this breakdown of five easy steps you can take to prepare your lawn for spring and get it to peak health in time for summer!
While this might sound like an easy step, it is something we often put off, especially during the winter months. Little do we know that weeds actually litter your lawn in the winter months and thatch starts to build up. Thatch is a layer of dead and living grass shoots, stems and roots that form between the soil and grass blades in your lawn.
This can be resolved with some raking. First, remove all the leaves and then focus on dethatching. Do this by digging the rake into the lawn deeply as this will remove the dead matted patches where grass blades are stuck together. We recommend using a metal or wire rake as these are more efficient than plastic ones.
After clearing up your lawn, the natural next step is to aerate the soil. While lawn compaction occurs throughout the year, especially in high traffic areas, it can also be the result of wet weather. If you received a lot of rain over winter, the ground would be moist - making compaction more severe. You can aerate your lawn with a fork to increase the amount of air, water and nutrients to ultimately strengthen the grass roots and keep your lawn at its healthiest.
Incorporating fertilising into your lawn care routine can help speed up growth following the effects of cooler weather and establish strong roots for summer. However, it’s vital to be using a fertiliser that suits your lawn type. On average, liquid fertilisers are more suited towards cooler climates but once the warmer weather kicks in you can feed your lawn granular fertiliser. Ensure not to overfeed, especially at this time of the year where warmth and light intensity is not at its peak - meaning that it might not produce the desired results. Therefore, it is best to assess the conditions of your lawn often and adjust your fertiliser use accordingly.
Spring is one of the few times a year that requires minimal additional top-up watering outside of natural rainfall. The soil is yet to warm up properly and the nights are still cool; therefore, it takes a bit longer for any deep watering to be absorbed into the soil. A general rule of thumb is to burrow your finger into the lawn and if it’s damp you don’t need to water.
Now is the best time to get around to servicing your mower, especially if you have been putting this off as your mower might not be up to the task, or worse, impact the conditions of your lawn. Take this time to change the oil, refill the 4 stroke oil, check the conditions of the spark plug, air filter and blades.
You will be five steps ahead by taking on these tips which address not only your spring needs, but your annual lawn care maintenance needs in general. If you have questions about any of these steps, feel free to get in touch with our SupaSwift team today!
