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If you want your yard to look spectacular year-round, you will need to do different things during different seasons to help maintain it. Having a great looking lawn can increase your home’s value. A recent study concluded that a well-landscaped home had a significant price advantage over a home with no landscaping, ranging from a 5.5% - 12.7% advantage. Having a nice lawn isn’t expensive and is fairly easy to maintain. Below are several things you can do each season to keep your lawn looking nice and healthy. In the spring, you will need to give your yard a spring clean-up. Remove any debris that has accumulated during the winter season, including leaves, sticks, dead grass, etc. The ideal way to do this is with a rake or a self-propelled de-thatcher. Then, you will need to aerate your lawn, using a rented self-propelled aerator. This machine pulls plugs out of grass and loosens compacted soil. It breaks up thatch, increases oxygen to the roots, encourages deeper root growth, and reduces water run-off. Then, you will need to overseed your lawn. Overseeding every spring will help fill in dead spots that have occurred over the winter season. Overseeding is done with grass seed and a spreader. The fourth step for a nice-looking, healthy lawn during the spring season is to fertilize and spread pre-emergent granular on your lawn. You should also apply pre-emergent crabgrass control. Your lawn should be mowed at 3 inches all season long. In the early summer, broadleaf weeds are a problem, so it is recommended to spread broadleaf weed and feed granular on the lawn. This will kill off most of the weeds and gives the lawn a small dose of fertilizer, all in one. During the regular summer months, apply fertilizer and check for insect problems. Sometimes, a combination of fertilizer and insect control can be purchased. Water your lawn when your lawn starts to show stress. If you aerated your lawn in the spring, there should be less water run-off and decrease in your water bill. In the fall, cool nights, rain, and morning dew can restore your lawn to its full beauty after the stress of the summer season. You should apply another application of weed and fertilizer to the lawn during the fall season. The nitrogen in the weed and fertilizer should be stored throughout the winter, with its benefits being seen in the spring. The winter season can be the harshest on lawns. Clean up regularly, removing sticks, leaves, debris, and toys from the lawn because they can smother the grass, invite insects, mice, and other damaging pests, as well as create disease conditions. The last few times you mow, lower your mower about .5” – 1.0” so that the grass won’t smother itself. Do not cut the grass too short, because it will expose the crown of the grass to extreme conditions. Dominant grass will tolerate a moderate amount of traffic under a cover of snow, but paths that are heavily worn will take longer to turn green in the spring season and can cause compaction. Monitor weather conditions. Certain conditions can be harmful to turf in the long term. If there is a winter storm or deep freeze approaching, it may be beneficial to chip away a little exposed ice in a low spot. Are you looking for more information on lawn care and maintenance? Visit http://www.tlsmd.com/ today!
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