The snow has melted away, the birds are singing once again, and the days are growing longer – it must be spring. To have a beautiful lawn, you’ll need to perform some routine spring lawn maintenance to clear away debris and fill in brown patches.
First, you need to decide what to do with your winter tools.
Store your winter equipment
Even if your home has a larger garage, space can still be a precious commodity. Storing your seasonal equipment in a self-storage unit can help you stay organized. Keeping your equipment out of the elements may also extend its life by avoiding wear and tear when not in use. And, with a storage unit, you can keep your summer gear safe next time winter rolls around.
Address any bald patches
With the snow gone, your lawn has likely been compacted with plant debris, creating a beaten-down appearance. Homeowners in warmer clients may also notice brown spots left over from the winter months.
Use a rake to clean up debris and un-thatch your grass. HGTV recommended using a hand shovel to level out bumpy bald patches in the lawn, then overseeding those areas to promote growth. Keeping these areas well-watered during the early months of spring will help you achieve a full, pristine lawn in time for those summer barbeques.
Tune-up your mower
With your lawnmower out of storage, you should perform some preventative maintenance to keep the machine running smoothly all season long. The lawn experts at Scotts suggested changing your mower’s oil, spark plugs, and air filter. If there are still lawn clippings stuck to the undercarriage, clean these away with a hose and stiff brush.
You’ll also want to check on the blade during spring lawn maintenance. If there are a significant number of nicks and scratches, it may be time to find a replacement part. Otherwise, you can get a dull blade sharpened for a better cut.
Give your mower a tune-up before taking it for a spin.Mow and fertilize your grass
With your mower ready to go, it’s time for the fun part! If it’s a hot day, put on some sunscreen, grab a bottle of water and fire up the lawnmower. Unless you’ve received significant amounts of early spring rainfall, you’ll want to use a high blade setting to avoid cutting the grass too short. If you give your lawn an early buzz-cut, it could burn up during a dry spell.
Notice any dandelions or other large weeds popping up amongst your green grass? Pull these out by hand. If you mow them over, they’ll likely come back in a few days. Pulling weeds out by the roots will ensure they stay gone for good.
During spring lawn maintenance, it’s also important to pluck dandelions before they go to seed when any movement will scatter the weeds even further.
Safely apply herbicides
Herbicides can keep more weeds from sprouting on your lawn and spoiling all of your hard work. Try to identify which specific species of weeds are present in your lawn and find corresponding herbicides. The Spruce noted that some herbicides are specifically labeled for “post-emergent” weeds – those that have already sprouted.
Read the labels of all chemicals carefully before applying them to your lawn and always keep children and pets at a safe distance.
With these tasks complete, you’ll only need to perform minimal maintenance throughout the remainder of the spring and summer, giving you plenty of time to enjoy the beautiful weather.
Contact SecurCare Self Storage to learn more about how a storage unit can help you get ready for the spring!