Early Spring Lawn Care: How to Prepare for Peak Growing Season

Spring is arriving, and that means homeowners will be spending a little more time and effort getting their lawns into shape as the grass emerges from winter dormancy. 

Lawn maintenance in the spring is key to a lush, healthy lawn all year round. Continue reading as we share tips on how to prepare your lawn for the peak growing season.

Early Spring Lawn Maintenance Tips

From cleaning up to mowing, applying fertilizer for grass, repairing bare patches, and treating weeds, spring lawn maintenance encompasses a range of practices to bring your grass back to life and give it a head start in time for summer.

Clean Up

Getting ready for spring care is all about starting with a clean slate. Rake up any fallen leaves, twigs, branches, dead grass, and general debris and dispose of them in the compost pile. Make sure to rake when your soil is dry—raking while the soil is moist can inadvertently pull up healthy grass.

Equipment Maintenance

After being stored for a while during the previous season, take the time to inspect your gardening tools before diving into spring maintenance. Pay special attention to your lawn mower—consider taking it for a service or tuning it up yourself. Change the oil, install new spark plugs, and replace the air filter, if necessary. Additionally, make sure you have enough fuel in store for your first grass-cutting session of the season.

Aerate & Dethatch

Dethatching is the practice of removing the excess buildup of thatch—a layer of organic matter, primarily consisting of dead grass, that accumulates above the soil. It can prevent water, air, and nutrients from reaching the roots, obstructing growth. 

Meanwhile, aerating relieves soil compaction by breaking up the soil and allowing nutrients to better penetrate into the soil. Although separate tasks, dethatching and aerating as necessary create the optimal conditions to kickstart grass growth in spring. Read here for a complete guide on how to aerate a lawn.

Repair Damaged Areas with Grass Plugs

As you engage in spring lawn maintenance, areas that may have been damaged during the previous season may become more apparent. Use this opportunity to repair your lawn by introducing grass plugs to these troubled spots. 

Grass plugs consist of mature plants with an established root system, offering a convenient and lasting solution to restore your lawn. Using a grass plug tool, dig holes in the soil at regular intervals and insert each plug. Make sure the roots are fully covered and pressed firmly into the soil to promote better root-to-soil contact. After transplanting, water your new grass for the first 1-2 weeks, making sure the soil is consistently moist to facilitate successful establishment and growth.

Fertilize

We recommend using specialized grass plug fertilizers like NutriPod® that contain nutrients essential to accelerate grass growth and support the new plugs as they take root and adapt to a new environment. These pre-measured fertilizer pods facilitate the gradual release of nutrients, providing steady nutrition to the new grass for up to 45 days. Simply drop each pod into a planting hole, and you can ensure that your grass has access to the nutrients necessary for healthy and vigorous growth.

After the initial round of fertilizer, aim to follow up with 2-3 times more applications of fertilizer for grass across your lawn, spacing them out strategically throughout the growing season to provide consistent nourishment and sustain healthy growth. An opportune time for the second fertilizer application is just before mowing your new grass for the first time or when it reaches 3-4 inches in height.

Mow High

Mowing in spring is an essential step in revitalizing your lawn by trimming dormant brown grass and stimulating denser, new growth.

With newly transplanted grass plugs, wait until the new grass has firmly taken root in its new environment or when it reaches a height of 3-4 inches to avoid dislodging them. When it’s time to mow, adjust the mower blades to the highest possible setting. 

In line with the one-third rule, avoid cutting more than one-third of the grass height at a time to prevent shock and stress to the grass. Instead, trim your lawn gradually by spacing out mowing sessions to once every two weeks until you reach the ideal height, which for most warm-season grasses, is usually 2-2.5 inches.

Keep an Eye Out for Weeds

Weed control takes precedence among the priorities for spring lawn care, as just as the season provides the optimal conditions for new grass growth, so it does for weeds. When pre-emergent herbicide application is not an option due to the risk of damaging your desired grass, alternatives include manually removing weeds as they emerge or applying a post-emergent herbicide. This treatment targets weeds that have already established themselves without harming your desired plants.

Takeaway

As you kickstart the regrowth of your grass and prepare it for the warmest season of the year, spring lawn maintenance emerges as a crucial step in ensuring the overall health of your lawn. Taking shortcuts now may result in a lawn that is more susceptible to environmental stress and disease, ultimately requiring extensive weekend efforts to rectify.

By prioritizing comprehensive maintenance and care during the spring season, you set the foundation for a healthy, resilient lawn that thrives throughout the year.

Support your spring lawn care efforts and foster vigorous grass growth. Shop for NutriPod®  grass plug fertilizer today.