13 Ways To Set Your Lawn Up For Success This Spring

Just as summer beach bodies are built in the winter, luscious green summer lawns are created in the early spring. Having a beautiful and healthy lawn takes time, forethought, and upkeep. There are also many factors that can affect the way your lawn looks. This is why you must do all you can in the spring to set your lawn up for success.

Before mowing your lawn for the first time in the spring, tune up your equipment and sharpen your mower blade. Test and aerate your soil, and time the first mowing after there is no risk of an overnight freeze. Don’t cut the grass too short in the spring. Apply a pre-emergent herbicide, and sprinkle seed in damaged or bare areas. Add a light fertilizer, and water as needed.

All sorts of variables can affect the look of your lawn. If you are determined to have a green and immaculate lawn this year, you must be particularly diligent in the spring. The good news is as long as you follow the tips listed below, your lawn will have a much better chance to look its best heading into the summer and fall months.

13 Tips To Help Set Your Lawn Up For Success This Spring

1. Inspect And Tune Up Your Equipment

Before you think about cutting your grass, you first need to inspect all your equipment. Tune up your mower, and give it a good cleaning after a long winter in storage. Change the oil in gas mowers, and make sure electric mowers have fully functional batteries.

If you have additional lawn care equipment, test it and perform any necessary maintenance.

2. Rake Away Debris And Clean Up Lawn

Once you ensure your equipment is in order, it’s time to clean up your yard. Winter can bring severe weather, including wind and heavy precipitation. This extreme weather usually results in fallen branches, leaves, and twigs.

There may also be other dead plants and grass that need to be raked away and picked up. Ensure all this debris is removed before you start working on your lawn. Dead leaves and branches can damage lawnmowers and also inhibit grass growth.

3. Sharpen Your Mower Blades

As the weather warms up and the grass grows, you’ll want to get ready for the first mow. In addition to tuning up your lawn mower and equipment, you should also take the time to have your lawn mower blades sharpened.

A sharp blade does a much better job cutting grass. It also promotes growth. Clean sharp cuts also make it harder for fungus and pests to damage your lawn.

4. Test The Soil

If you haven’t tested your soil in a while, the start of spring is a great time to do so. Buy a soil testing kit from a trusted source, and sample various parts of your lawn. This will give you a good idea about your soil’s pH, as well as how well it retains nutrients. This information will help you choose the right grass and see what changes you must make to your soil.

5. Apply A Pre-Emergent To Deter Weeds

If weeds are a problem in your area, consider applying a pre-emergent herbicide in the early spring. A pre-emergent herbicide will prevent all sorts of weeds from growing. This will allow your lawn to look uniform throughout the summer.

Remember that if you apply a pre-emergent herbicide to an area, you can’t add new seed. New seeds won’t grow in areas that have been recently treated with a pre-emergent herbicide.

6. Time Your First Mowing Properly

Once your lawn starts growing a bit, you can start planning your first mowing session. Before you turn on your mower, however, ensure you take a look at the weather. You should only mow your lawn if there is no longer the risk of a deep overnight frost. 

If the nighttime temperatures dip below 25 degrees Fahrenheit, then you should try to wait a bit longer. If you mow your lawn and there’s a deep freeze, the grass may go into shock, and it could take several weeks to bounce back.

7. Aerate Lawn As Needed

Certain types of grass, especially thick-growing cool weather grass like Kentucky bluegrass, should be aerated from time to time. Aerated lawns can absorb more nutrients and water. 

Aerating the soil will allow the grass to grow quickly. It also promotes new growth, which is exactly what you want when your goal is a lawn that looks great in the summer.

8. Water Lawn As Needed, But Never Oversaturate It

Many novice gardeners think the key to green grass and colorful flowers is watering. While there is some truth to this, it’s important you remember that overwatering is often more likely to damage plants than underwatering in the spring months.

In regions with four seasons, the soil is usually saturated after the spring thaw. Therefore, only begin watering once the lawn has absorbed this moisture, and the ground feels firm. Watering as needed will promote healthy growth going into the summer months.

9. Sprinkle Seed In Bare And Damaged Areas

After a harsh winter, you may notice some muddy bald spots on your lawn. If you do, then it’s important to buy seed right away and apply it once your lawn has thawed and is workable.

One common mistake homeowners make in the spring is waiting too long to buy seed. The right grass seed can sell out, especially at the start of spring. Make sure you have enough seed to patch up any bald spots and apply it when the time is right.

10. Don’t Set Your Mower Too Low At The Start Of Spring

Before you run your mower on the lawn, make sure the wheels aren’t too low. The first few times you mow your lawn in the spring, you don’t want to buzz it too low. You may be tempted to cut off all the dead growth, but resist this urge.

Instead, you want to trim it one or two notches higher than in peak summer months. This will help you start trimming dead growth without shocking the grass.

11. Apply Fertilizer, But Don’t Overfeed The Lawn 

Part of preparing your lawn for the winter is fertilizing it fairly heavily in the fall. As long as you fertilize your lawn in the fall, you don’t need to feed it very much in the spring. Instead, wait until after you have mowed it once or twice, and then apply a light fertilizer. If you add too much fertilizer, your grass may grow faster than you can keep up with it. So, unless you want to be outside mowing all spring, apply minimal fertilizer in the spring.

12. Wait A Few Months Before Dethatching Dense Lawns

Dethatching is another lawn task that you can perform in the spring, but you may want to wait until the late spring. Dethatching is great for dense-growing grass varieties, as it allows for new growth, and improves the way your lawn looks.

Doing it too soon, however, can shock your lawn. Wait until you have mowed the grass a few times before you dethatch for best results.

13. Apply A Post-Emergent Herbicide When You Notice Weeds

While your pre-emergent herbicide will stop many kinds of weeds from growing altogether, it won’t stop all. Certain types of popular lawn weeds, like dandelions and clover, may require a post-emergent herbicide. Apply this weed killer as you notice these pesky weeds sprouting.

Wrapping Up Ways To Set Your Lawn Up For Success In The Spring

Everyone wants a beautiful green lawn that looks better than anyone else's on the block. There are many ways to make your lawn look better, and many of these tricks are best applied to your grass in the spring. Ensure your equipment is tuned up, your mower blade is sharp, and your soil is tested as soon as the ground thaws. Don’t overwater or apply too much fertilizer in early spring. Aerate and dethatch your lawn to promote new growth, and time your first mowing carefully by checking overnight temperatures. 

Related Guides:

• Is The Best Time To Fertilize Lawn Before Or After Rain?
• Prepare Your Lawn Mower For Spring (Lawn Mower Maintenance Checklist)
• Signs That It Is Time To Aerate My Lawn