Spring is my favorite season. New baby plants, bright spring flowers, warmer weather. And you can finally get outside and start working in the yard. Just make sure you don’t miss any of these essential tasks for getting the lawn and garden ready for a good spring.
1) Clean Things Up
As the weather warms, start out your spring lawn care by raking. This will fluff up grass leaves and remove debris from the lawn. Some sources also suggest aerating your lawn in the spring. You’ll want to time aeration with the grass’s peak growing season. For cool-season grass, early spring or late fall works well. For warm-season grass, wait until late spring.
In early spring, prune perennials back to 4-5 inches tall and ornamental grasses down to 2-3 inches. Rake dead foliage and leaves out of the flowerbeds, borders, and off the lawn so they don’t smother plants or contribute to mold and disease.
2) Stop Weeds
If you want to use herbicides on your lawn, start by applying a pre-emergent herbicide when the top 1 inch of soil has stayed above 55 degrees Fahrenheit for five days in a row. That’s about 2 to 3 weeks before the time of year you usually start noticing weed growth. If you’re planning to re-seed any areas of your lawn this spring, skip the pre-emergents. They’ll stop grass seeds from sprouting along with weed seeds.
3) Get Ready To Mow
You can start mowing in the spring as soon as the grass is tall enough. Aim for cutting off 1/3 of the grass’ total height with each mowing. That will mean you’re cutting about once a week during peak growth season
Before it’s time to mow, get your lawn mower out of storage and give it a tune-up. Fill it up with new gasoline and make sure it starts. If you didn’t do maintenance like blade sharpening and cleaning the air filters before storing the mower last year, take care of it now.
4) Tune-Up Equipment
It’s not just mowers that need some attention in the spring. Trimmers, tillers, edgers, and other equipment benefits from regular maintenance at least once a year. Spring’s a good time for that since you’re already getting equipment out of storage and making sure it’s ready for use. If you find anything that needs repairs, bring it into our service department. We can also help you with routine maintenance to keep all your equipment running smoothly year-round.
5) Start Tilling
Once the soil in a garden is free of ice and moist but not soggy, you can start tilling. For small gardens, we offer mini-cultivators that are compact and maneuverable. For larger gardens, a mid-size or larger rear-tine tiller makes the job faster and easier.
Working the soil in the spring lets you add organic soil amendments like compost. It also makes planting easier for you, since you’re not trying to dig compacted soil. And loose soil is easier for young plant roots to grow through.
