A clean and green lawn is an excellent addition to your property for many reasons. It adds to the market value, overall aesthetic, and livability of your home. Lawns are freshly cut and well-maintained during those spring and summer months, and sometimes you just wish that it could stay like that all year.
However, there are ways on how you can take care of your lawn during the colder seasons, too. Here are tips on how to keep your lawn clean and green all year long.
Lawn care for spring
Spring weather will keep you busy with your lawn as the amount of sunshine and rainfall makes grass grow faster, shrubs produce more leaves, and flowers bloom. After the cold winter season, your yard needs the best care it can get. You’re going to need all of your tools ready and sharpened for the spring cleaning season. EasyShed can help you with garden sheds and other kinds to keep your lawn tidy.
Don’t mow your grass too short by only cutting the top one-third. This is to make sure that grass roots and soil won’t dry out faster. Ensure that you mow your lawn when it’s as dry as possible so that your mower won’t be clogged.
Even when spring is the rainiest season on the year, you need to take note of how it has been raining. When there is no rain twice or thrice a week, it’s a signal to be more observant. If it’s been warm and hot for five (5) days without rain, it’s time to use your hose or sprinkler and water your lawn. It’s best to water the lawn in the morning so the soil can get better moisture compared to quicker evaporation in the afternoon and susceptibility of diseases in the evening.
Weeding and pest control. Weeds can get out of control when you don’t take care of your lawn correctly during spring, and insects and pests are attracted to your lawn in the warm weather with the abundance of things they can eat. Remember to consult licensed professionals with the substances that you’re using and seek help if certain chemicals need a professional to do it.
Early spring. This is the best time to apply a pre-emergent herbicide. Timing is critical with pre-emergent herbicides for the best weed control because it would be too late when you apply this at a time where weed has started to grow. Treat with pesticides, including standing water.
Late spring – Apply a post-emergent herbicide. Morning is the best time to apply this so that the area is damp.
Lawn care for summer
Summer weather has less rainfall compared to spring, so it’s important that you have regular lawn maintenance, and similar to spring, plant growth is also fast during these months. If your area is especially humid, you need to take extra care of your area to make sure that it has enough water and nutrients. Summer is also a common season for people to move or make home renovations, so it’s important to remove residential rubbish to keep your lawn clean.
It’s best to mow your lawn on a weekly basis during summer. Waiting for grass to grow too long will make your lawn more susceptible to damaging insects and pests and diseases.
A green thumb rule is to make sure that your lawn has an inch of water on a weekly basis. It’s crucial that watering isn’t only superficial but can reach deep into the roots during the hot weather to have healthy, green grass. While it’s important to water your lawn, also avoid over-watering that can make your lawn susceptible to diseases and fungus. Water early in the morning, before 10 AM, or late in the afternoon, before 7 PM.
Weeding and pest control. Continue to be vigilant for weeds and pests, and this is their time to munch on your lawn. Watch out for larvae of lawn moths, grub worms, aphids, red caterpillars and chinch bugs. Before you have 10 pests per square foot, treat your lawn with pesticide before your lawn gets damaged in only a matter of days.
Lawn care for fall
Fall is the best time to prepare your lawn for the cold winter season. During these months, plant growth will start to decline and while grass can grow, it’s a lot slower. Fall is also a good time for a lawn cleanup, feeding, aerating, and even planting.
Continue to trim your grass to prevent overgrowth, but this wouldn’t be done too often considering the growth rate.
Fertilization in fall will protect your lawn by allowing grass to store important nutrients that may be difficult to get during winter. You can ask a professional for help for more complete fertilizers such as those with potassium and nitrogen.
By aerating your lawn through punching small holes in the soil, you prevent soil compaction that can happen during winter. Whether using a fork or mechanical aerator, make sure that the holes are about four inches to ensure that oxygen and fertilizer can get into the soil during the cold winter days.
Don’t forget to clean up your lawn before winter. Rake leaves that have fallen off from trees regularly and pick up branches that may have broken. You want to remove any debris before winter so that it won’t affect your overall lawn health then.
Lawn care for winter
Winter grass can look less green, but it still needs attention to make sure that your spring bloom is lush and healthy. It may be cold to spend time on your yard, but maintenance is important even at this time.
Lessen foot traffic. It’s important to lessen foot traffic during winter so that the grass won’t have additional stress from the cold weather and weaken, and be able to grow healthily for spring. You can put signs like “Keep off the grass”.
Lawn maintenance. Following the same rule, overgrowth can lead to potential diseases to your lawn. At the same time, winter is a season where raccoons, rodents, gophers, and moles could be in your area. There are cheap ways to kill weeds for winter and professionals can help with other services too.
Continue to collect fallen branches, twigs and other debris from your lawn during this time so that they won’t block oxygen from coming into the soil.
Keeping your lawn clean and green for the entire year, including the colds months, can be a tough job. However, taking time for the space that increases your home’s value is certainly a worthwhile investment to make.
