How to Prep for Spring Lawn Care

How to prep for spring lawn care

You can feel it, can’t you? Spring is just right around the corner. While winters aren’t necessarily as rough here in Florida as in other parts of the country, there’s still something incredibly refreshing about spring. Of course, with that comes the need to start taking care of your lawn. After all, you want the best-looking and healthiest yard possible, right? So, what are the best ways to prep for spring lawn care?

The five best ways to prep for spring lawn care are to rake your yard, add new sod as necessary, pull weeds, spray for weeds, and perform some tool maintenance.

Get out the rake

raking the lawn to improve lawn care

Some homeowners make it a point to completely remove all fallen leaves from their yards. In fact, that’s one of the services we offer for our clients. Leaves that lay on your grass through fall and winter can actually damage the health of your yard, so proactive removal is important.

That being said, you’ll still want to rake your entire yard to take care of thatch. Thatch is effectively the dead layer of organic material at the base of your root system. Removing this through deep raking is the first and most important step as you prep for spring lawn care.

Add new sod where necessary

Occasionally, you’re going to encounter some dead patches in your yard. As you prep for spring lawn care, you’ll want to pay attention to these dead spots and lay new sod early in the season so that, when everything is in bloom, you have the best-looking yard on the block.

One of the most common causes of dead zones in your yard is man’s best friend. Our canine friends tend to return to the same spots over and over again, especially if it’s colder outside than they’re used to. You’ll want to remove the layer of dead sod before applying the new. By doing so, it will allow the new layer to take hold. Applying new sod on top of an existing layer simply isn’t a good idea for the health of your lawn.

vine and weed removal to ensure a healthy lawn

Pull weeds

While it might not be physically possible to pull every weed in your yard, start with patches of the most obvious weeds. Sometimes you’ll encounter large groups of Canadian thistle, which can be a real eyesore. Other times, you’ll run across patches of crabgrass.

These are some of the more common larger weeds and the easiest ones to eliminate simply by pulling them up from the root. It’s also possible that they will have killed out the existing grass in that area too, so revisit tip #2 (overseeding) as necessary here.

Spray for weeds

Of course, simply pulling weeds isn’t enough. You want to proactively ward them off and prevent them from returning ever again. This is particularly true with smaller yet still unsightly weeds including quackgrass, nutseed, and purslane.

While our blog linked in the previous paragraph has lots of great tips on how to proactively eliminate weeds before they start, once these smaller species have taken hold the most common way to eliminate them is by spraying. Keep in mind where your pets will be in your yard as you spray. It may be a good idea to spray your yard in batches so that they can always have a place to go outside.

Get your tools ready

sun power lawn care team lawn maintenance in gainesville fl

If you prefer to handle your annual lawn care on your own, the most important step is to prepare your lawn equipment. This includes everything from changing the oil in your mower to sharpening its blades to making sure your weed whacker batteries hold a charge. It also could include giving your lawnmower a tune-up with new spark plugs or potentially replacing it if it’s reached its end of life

The best way to prep for spring lawn care is to contact us!

Since 2014, we’ve been helping our clients prep for spring lawn care and maintain their yards all season long. We pride ourselves on taking care of your yard and doing it right the first time, every time. We offer several different service packages to meet your needs. Contact us for a free estimate and a member of our team will be in touch to schedule your appointment!

 

Here are some great resources to help your lawn looks its best:

The 12 Best Home Services in Gainesville

2020 Year in Review

5 Blogs A Gardener Should Be Reading