Spring Care For Your Lawn – Enjoy Greener Grass

Spring is a great time to get out and take care of your lawn. It's an ideal growing time, and the ground is still soft enough to plant seeds, and the weather is warmer. You'll also find it easier to remove weeds and moss while the ground is soft. Taking the time now to seed any patchy areas will give you a greener, fuller lawn this summer. This is why spring care for your lawn is important.

Clear Your Lawn

If you have animals or children, the best place to start will be to walk around your lawn and clear anything that shouldn't be there. Research tells us this is one of the most common reasons that lawnmowers break, as it's easy to miss that stone, bone or toy left, as the grass might be longer than normal.

If your grass is exceptionally long, you might need to get out the strimmer before you tackle it with a lawnmower, but be careful not to go too heavy with a strimmer.

Clean your Lawn Mower

In our post on how to prepare your garden for spring, we mention it's an important time to look after your tools and service them. This is important, as clogged up motors that have been out in the garden can be damaged when you first fire them up, so if you haven't used your lawnmower since the end of summer, give it a good clean. Don't forget to sharpen and clean up the blades, too, as this will help cut the long grass while giving you're a nicer finish.

Mowing Your Lawn

When it comes to mowing the lawn for the first time in spring, you'll want to make sure that the grass isn't too damp, as this can mulch up the grass and damage it if you're not careful. It's best to do your first cut after a few (3-4) days without heavy rain. But you do need to get that first cut in, as this will stop the grass from getting too long. Ideally, if you can, raise the cutting length of the blades. Giving your lawn a longer than normal cut will help with the next steps.

When cutting the grass, work away from where you are plugged in. This will mean you are less likely to run over the cable. You should always use a garden circuit breaker, just in case.

Never let your lawn grow too long. Regular cutting will help keep your lawn healthy over the summer months.

Removing Moss From Your Lawn

In March to April, it's ideal for raking out any moss in your lawn and re-seed any patchy areas left behind. Before you sow any patchy areas, make sure that you fork your lawn regularly, as this will help with aeration and help prevent further build-up of moss, as damp conditions are the likely cause for moss.

Also, take this time to go around your lawn and remove any deep-rooted weeds. You can pick up a tool from your local garden centre or order one online from places like Amazon. We found this one that has great reviews: Weed Remover

Feeding Your Lawn

Once you have removed the moss and larger weeds from your lawn, it's time to feed your lawn. This lawn feed from Evergreen will help kill weeds and moss while feeding your lawn for a greener and thicker lawn.

It's crucial to check the feeder that you are using on the full directions, as some are only for use in the summer months, but you will want one that will help with spring care for your lawn.

Seeding Your Lawn

Early autumn and springtime is the best times to sow your lawn. You can grow at other times in the summer months, but the ground will be harder, and the seeds will require more watering. The ground will be softer in spring, and the warmer weather will help germinate the seeds to grow faster.

If the weather is dry for 2-3 days, then water lightly with a sprinkler system, ensuring you don't disturb the seeds too much. It'll be best to mow around the patchy areas during this stage to give the grass a chance to take hold.

It's common that the patched areas of the lawn will be a different colour of seed from the rest of the lawn. If this is an issue, you may want to seed the rest of the lawn with the same seeds, as this will help blend in the grass.

If you are seeding the entire lawn, you will want to wait until it is about 7-8cm tall. This should mean the grass has taken hold, and you will be safe to mow. But check a patch first, as you don't want to have to re-sow the whole garden again.

New Turfed Areas

If you have chosen to lay new turf down, you will probably be able to mow this much quicker. Typically you can mow a turfed area after 7-10 days, as the seeds will have taken root in the soil, it came with, making them stronger. Don't cut your lawn too low, as this can lead to patchy areas that are used on a more regular basis.

Upkeep of Your Lawn

Keeping your lawn looking good all year round will take some dedication. It's important to feed and cut your lawn regularly. Make sure you sharpen your lawnmower blades, as this will help give a cleaner cut to the blades and help prevent them from mulching up the grass.

Change the direction you cut the lawn each time, as this will help prevent graining. So if you cut lengthways this time, cut widthways next time.

Hire a Gardener

If you see this as all too much work, you can always hire a gardener to come in and help keep your garden looking ship share this year. As the experts, a good gardener will give you advice on what will grow best in your area and help with the upkeep of the garden.