Lawn Tips in Time for National Lawn and Garden Month

With both Easter and Tax Day on the horizon, you may have forgotten that April also is National Lawn and Garden Month. Luckily – or not so luckily – for some of us, any brown grass or an influx of weeds creeping into your front yard may serve as an instant reminder!

What can you do to show your lawn some love during this national month-long celebration? Well, it all starts with the basics. Every lawn, and garden for that matter, needs some sun, water and fertilizer. What our lawns and gardens don’t need are pesky weeds that prohibit growth.

Since we all have no real control over the sun that shines down, it is important to control the lawn care tools that are at our disposal. Here is a handy guide that should keep your lawn green throughout April’s National Lawn and Garden Month – and beyond!

Know When to Water

Unless you’re working with a brand new lawn, watering every day may be excessive. Instead, giving your lawn a weekly shower and allowing the water to deeply sink into your soil may prove far more effective.

Don’t Forget the Fertilizer

When it comes to your lawn, fertilizer provides the balanced diet your greenery needs to thrive. So, fertilizing your lawn at least twice a year provides important nutrients and vitamins needed for healthy growth. If you’re skipping this step, you could be starving your lawn!

Weed Out the Competition

When you spot a patch of crabgrass or other unsightly weeds in your yard, your first instinct is probably to pluck them away. Instead of employing that painstakingly-long process, you can shoo weeds away by keeping your grass in tip-top condition. That means keeping on schedule with watering, fertilizing and mowing. See a pattern here?

Don’t Mow Too Low

When it comes to your mowing schedule, shaving your grass down to the mower’s lowest level may seem like a great way to avoid frequent yard work. Unfortunately, it really is only a great way to add stress to your lawn. Instead, leaving the mower a little higher promotes healthy growth by protecting roots, shading the ground and blocking sun from helping weeds inhabit your yard.

Come Up for Air

If this spring brings a lot of rain, your lawn could become oversaturated. To let some air in and allow the nutrients in your fertilizer to do their job, aerating your yard could be a must. To properly do this, you could purchase a lawn aerator or simply stroll through your yard in your favorite pair of golf spikes! Jokes aside, a little fresh air is as good for your lawn as it is for you!

Reseed as Needed

Even when you’re seeing lots of green in your lawn, it may be necessary to do a little extra seeding. Yes, savvy gardeners run into lawn issues sometimes, too. You can spot seed to repair bare areas, but make sure to rid your lawn of any dead grass or surrounding weeds beforehand. To provide a complete renovation, trim your lawn a bit lower than usual, apply herbicide and reseed after a couple weeks of waiting. To be sure your lawn will flourish, have your soil tested and pair your seeds with the soil.

Yard work may not be one of the spring signs that we all look forward to, but there is no better time to get a jump on it than during National Lawn and Garden Month. So, embrace whatever April showers may come your way and start sprucing up your lawn and gardens today!