The last frost in the St. Louis region means it’s time to put away the ice skates and break out your lawn mower. If you want a lawn that will be the envy of all your neighbors, it’s time for some spring prep work. These are our top tips for spring lawn care:
Early spring is the time to prepare your lawn for the upcoming summer season in the St. Louis region. Lawns need weed prevention, and nutrients at the right time. It’s also time to start mowing, watering, and building strong root systems for a successful year.
Yard Cleanup
Even if your yard appears to be ready to go, it’s wise to do a thorough inspection and cleanup as your first step in spring lawn care. Even if some leaves have been cleaned up during winter, there are some trees that shed leaves during spring. So, inspect the lawn thoroughly to find any layers or significant piles of leaves. Also, be sure to pick up any fallen twigs or branches and clean any pet messes. And see if things like thick branches or stones are hiding in your overgrown lawn. Raking is an important part of yard cleanup in the St. Louis region. Even if you don’t find a single leaf pile, you should do it to control thatch. You’ll be able to remove the additional layers of grass that died during the winter by raking the grass. By removing thatch build-up and leaves, you’ll help the grasses to grow healthy and strong. Remember to do the raking when the lawn is fully dry. If you do it over wet grasses, it may tear them from the roots, which may leave you with unwanted bare patches in your lawn.
Trim Shrubs
Early spring is the right time to trim shrubs because most shrubs remain dormant during this time in the St. Louis area. It also becomes easier to see the actual shape of the shrubs when there’s no foliage. Trim any diseased, dying, or dead branches. If you’re trimming diseased ones, be sure to cut well below the infected areas. Then trim back to the original stem, cutting the branch to the source as close as you can. Note: This does not apply to early-flowering shrubs, as trimming them back will cause them not to flower.
Mulch
Mulching is another crucial spring lawn care element when it comes to having a beautiful-looking lawn. If you can perform mulch installation properly, it’ll provide the lawn’s soil with nutrients and limit its compaction. It also increases soil fertility slowly and may enhance the availability of micronutrients already present in the soil. In spring, it warms the soil, allowing you to plant significantly before the soil would be ready in general. However you can go overboard. An excessive amount of mulch (a layer having a depth of over three inches) may bury and suffocate your plants by preventing oxygen and water from reaching their roots. Try to maintain a layer with a depth between two to three inches. Also, stay away from mulching around the trunks of shrubs and trees as that may encourage wood-boring insects.
Fertilization
Spring and fall are the best times to fertilize a fescue lawn. In late spring, around April, a balanced fertilizer should be applied to encourage strong grass roots, healthy growth, and green, spring lawn.
Weed Control
Weed control in early spring is a crucial part of weed prevention. Pre-emergent herbicides should be applied to prevent common summer weeds like crabgrass. Any active broadleaf weeds that couldn’t be prevented in the fall, like dandelion, can be treated with post-emergent weed control. Make sure to avoid pre-emergent if you’re planning a spring overseeding on a fescue lawn.
Mowing
Spring is also the time for the first mow of the season. Make sure to bag your grass clippings to avoid adding dead grass and debris to the thatch layer. Sharp the blades on your lawn mower to ensure a healthy cut. During spring, the recommended mowing height for tall fescue is 2.5 to 3.5 inches.
Additional Spring Lawn Care Tips:
- Weeds are the only thing that can be prevented proactively in spring. In late spring, a preventative insecticide can be applied for grub control. Lawn grubs emerge in early fall and feed on the root systems. An insecticide applied at the right time can prevent them from hatching.
- Aeration is another common lawn maintenance task to tackle during spring. Spring aeration is recommended for warm-season grasses like Bermuda or Zoysia, once they come out of dormancy. It will help promote healthy root systems, break down thatch, and alleviate compaction. Fescue lawn can be aerated and overseeded in spring if it was skipped in the fall, but fall is the most ideal time for fescue overseeding.
In addition to these helpful tips, proper watering is a must for spring lawn care in the St. Louis area. Keep in mind that the appropriate time to water a lawn is when there’s an actual requirement of it. Just step on the grasses and if they don’t spring back your footsteps, you may give them a drink. For some, spring lawn care is fun, while for others it may be more of a chore, but either way–spring lawn care is essential to achieving the lawn you want come summer.
If you’ve got the lawn handled, but you are looking for a new home in the St. Louis region–contact us! We are ready to help. For additional information, text or call us at (636) 489-8384.