Spring Lawn Care Tips to Create a Landscape You’re Proud of – Macomb Daily

Now that spring is here, warmer weather signals plants to come out of dormancy and start blooming again. (Photo courtesy of Sod Solutions)

Now that spring is here, warmer weather signals plants to come out of dormancy and start blooming again. Even if your lawn and garden have never been completely dormant, you can still expect your home landscape to flourish with warmer temperatures.

Soon your lawn and garden will be full of color and activity again.

Consider these tips:

Start mowing your lawn again at the correct height

The timing for the first mowing of spring for your mature, established lawn grass varies widely depending on the area in which you live. Grasses emerge from dormancy in different ways, depending on the environment and temperatures your area encounters.

Generally, mid-March is the time to start your spring greening and mowing. It is important to note that the first mowing of spring should not occur while the warm season grass is dormant.

The cutting height varies per grass type, but you should never remove more than a third of the leaf blades from any grass type. If you mow less, you run the risk of scalping the grass.

Finally, a good tip for spring is to make sure your lawn mower blades are sharpened so that the mower blades cut cleanly through the grass instead of tearing it. If the blades of grass are not neatly cut, the mower will tear them open and open the grass to the possibility of disease.

Performing regular maintenance on your mower is a good practice at the end of the mowing season or before spring arrives.

Start your lawn off right with the right spring fertilizer

Spring is one of the most important times of year to use fertilizer. However, be careful with your first fertilizer application of the year. Many homeowners see their grass getting greener and immediately get out the fertilizer and lawn mower. We usually advise you to wait until the last frost has occurred.

If you fertilize your lawn and frost hits again, your grass will immediately go back to dormancy and it will be more difficult to get it green again. This does more harm than good.

Establish a spring irrigation schedule

Although dormant grass needs much less water than when it is actively growing, it still needs water. Once your grass starts to green up after winter dormancy, you should water your lawn again with about an inch of water per week, including rainfall.

If you are unsure how to measure how much water your lawn is receiving, an irrigation audit may be helpful to you. Irrigation audits provide measurable information about how much water each part of your lawn receives within a given time.

The next few tips discuss treating the lawn in the spring with fungicides, herbicides or insecticides. If any of these control products or fertilizers are granular, you will need to water the product so that your lawn absorbs it.

When watering granular products, water your lawn with the correct amount of water during the week of application.

The same can be said with all liquid products, as they are products that cling to the end of your garden hose or require tank mixing with water.

Above all, read and follow label instructions carefully before pouring products in.

Control weeds with a pre- or post-emergent herbicide

Pre-emergents should be applied in the spring when soil temperatures reach about 55 degrees Fahrenheit. A pre-emergence herbicide prevents weeds from emerging from the soil surface, as the name suggests.

The exact dates for these applications vary depending on the area you live in, but generally pre-emergents should be applied between early and mid-March in the spring.

If necessary, apply postemergence herbicides throughout the spring to control summer annual and perennial broadleaf weeds such as crabgrass, crossgrass, sandspur, dallisgrass, dandelion, chickweed, white clover, knotweed, spurge, dollarweed, doveweed and lespedeza.

Watch out for insects that may come out

If your lawn has suffered from insect damage in the past around this time, it is a good idea to apply a broad-spectrum insecticide at this time to prevent them from coming back.

If the insecticide is a granular product, be sure to water it so it soaks into the soil. On the other hand, if it is a liquid product, you will need to attach it to the end of your garden hose or mix it in the tank.

Some of the most common insects in the spring are white caterpillar worms, chinch bugs, sod web worms and bill bugs. White caterpillar worms are currently found in most turfgrasses, while chinchbugs are more likely to be seen in St. Augustine grass, turfworms in bermudagrass and billbugs in zoysia grass.

Sod webworms are typically more of a summer or fall pest, but they can still cause significant and costly nuisance to lawns in the southern regions of the US during the spring season.

Prevent diseases as temperatures start to warm

If you notice disease outbreaks, you may need to apply for a systemic fungicide. Even if you don’t have a disease in your lawn, it’s still good practice to apply it preventatively to prevent the disease from taking over, especially if you’ve had a disease around this time in the past.

Systemic fungicide applications should occur before applying spring fertilizers. If you have mold in your lawn, the nitrogen in fertilizers often feeds it and helps it spread. Apply a systemic fungicide and wait a few weeks before applying fertilizer.

Read product labels thoroughly.

There are a few other optional things you can do to help your lawn bloom in the spring.

Before the onset of the summer heat, patchwork of the lawn and light top dressing with a mixture of sand and topsoil is an excellent way to restore any weak spots. Plugs can be purchased to fill areas of the lawn with bare spots.

Aerating your lawn is also an ideal way to supply nutrients and really break up compacted soil. We normally recommend doing this once every few years. If you see thatch thicker than 1⁄2 inch, scarify it in late May.

Spring maintenance tips differ slightly from maintenance practices that take place during the rest of the year, as the weather begins to warm up and everything starts to turn green again.

Although cool-season grass does not usually go dormant during the winter, in many areas of the north the snow begins to melt and your lawn will receive more sunlight. It’s important to participate in spring maintenance so you can keep your lawn thriving for the rest of the year.

Valerie Smith is a content strategist at Sod Solutions. For more information, visit sodsolutions.com.