The Seasonal Turf Maintenance Checklist: Keeping Your Lawn in Top Shape
Whether you have cool-season or warm-season grass, the lawn’s seasonal needs include regular mowing and weed control, watering, and fertilization. In addition, the proper timing of each step is crucial to your lawn’s health. Other important activities include a soil test in spring, plant growth regulator application during summer heat, and overseeding bare spots in early fall. The proper timing of these tasks helps your lawn endure the harsh winter weather and enter the next year looking great!
Spring
A lush, weed-free lawn requires diligent care throughout the year. If left unattended, turfgrass can become bare, mossy, and infested with insects or fungal diseases. In the spring, aeration and dethatching are important lawn maintenance tasks that help prepare the soil and grass for the growing season. Turf maintenance Kent services can make your grass healthier and more resilient to weather conditions, traffic, and recreational activities.
Raking is a chore that can leave you with blisters on your hands and a sore back, but you can hire someone to get your turf ready for the spring. Besides removing accumulated debris, a leaf-raking lawn helps reduce thatch buildup and allows the grass to absorb nutrients better. Planting seeds in bare spots and covering the area with compost or shredded leaves to shield the grass from wind erosion are also great ways to use the springtime. It helps the seed stay moist and healthy until it can germinate.
Winter
Although grass dorms in winter, the turf and surrounding landscape require care. This time of year, limiting foot traffic across the lawn is essential, and ice melt products are less damaging than rock salt (sodium chloride). A thorough winter clearing and cleanup is critical to preparing your lawn for spring. The accumulation of twigs, leaves, and other debris can smother grass and lead to long-term damage. Good raking and leaf removal allow sunlight to reach the grassroots, prevent water buildup, and reduce fungal growth and outdoor pest infestations. The lawn grows in spring, shortly after the final frost in warm climates. It’s also an optimal time to overseed patchy or thinning lawns and perform other seasonal tasks like aerating, dethatching, and mulching.
Summer
In summer, lawns are often used for barbeques, picnics, and games. It’s essential to pick up toys, chairs, and other items left on the turf to protect resting grass plant crowns from damage. Foot traffic and parking vehicles on the lawn should also be limited to avoid soil compaction and stress to the turf plants.
Watering deeply and infrequently during the summer will help to keep grass hydrated and reduce weed invasions. Northside lawns should be made of cool-season grasses that can withstand summer heat, such as bluegrass, fine fescue, and perennial ryegrass.
Sharpen mower blades to prevent torn or ragged edges on the grass, exposing the roots to stress and damage. Also, consider a grub control application to prevent June beetles and other destructive pests from eating through the grassroots. Finally, overseeding in early fall will thicken the turf for next year and repair traffic wear.
Fall
Depending on your region and grass type, fall lawn care can be the most critical time of the year for setting up your lawn for success in the years ahead. It’s true for northern or cool-season grasses such as bluegrass, fescue, and perennial rye. If you have cool-season grasses, fall is also an optimal time to oversee the lawn if it’s thin or patchy. It’s the best time of the year to get new grass growing before winter.
It is also the best time to apply a pre-emergent herbicide such as Dithiopyr.172% or Prodiamine 65 WDG to stop invading weeds before they can grow and compete with your healthy turf. It’s also a great time to have pest control professionals perform services like tick and mosquito control before the temperatures start cooling. It will help prevent these annoying outdoor pests from residing in your yard over the winter and causing damage.
