I landscaped through college and early on in my professional career. There are several lawn care tips and tricks I learned through the years. Since, it’s spring time, and now that I have a yard of my own, I get to put them to the test. Here are my best tips for you that I use for my own yard.
Get to Know Your Yard with a Soil Test
Before you do anything, buy a soil test and get to know your yard. You don’t want to be planting grass or plants that doesn’t jive with the dirt beneath it. Certain soils can lack certain nutrients, or can be very acidic. It doesn’t mean your soil is bad if it’s acidic, but it will help you pick out the right plants that will flourish in your yard and help you choose the right fertilizers.
Aerate and Overseed
Lawn aeration is essential for taking your lawn from good to great. There are two different ways to aerate your lawn: spiked aerator and plug aerator. Because the main reason for aerating your lawn is to alleviate soil compaction, plug aeration is the best of the two. Spike aeration just pushes the soil in and compacts it more but allows for water, oxygen, and seed to penetrate the soil. Plug aeration actually pulls soil out and looks like little plugs in your yard. Not only does it alleviate soil compaction, it allows overseeding to penetrate the soil with water.
The best time to aerate is early spring and late fall when the grass is growing and the weather is still fairly cool. I like to aim around 60-65 degree temperatures for aeration and overseeding.
Don’t make the same mistake I did one year. Don’t apply crabgrass prevention when you overseed. The prevention will stop the seed from actually growing in.
Embrace the Grass Clippings
The simplest thing you can do for your yard is to not bag the grass clippings. Not only are you wasting garbage bags, you’re depriving your yard of one of the most nutritious natural by-products available for your yard (and it’s free!). Grass clippings are what we call a natural fertilizer. Part of the life cycle so to speak. When the grass clippings decompose, they release water and nutrients your lawn needs to help it grow greener and thicker.
In the end, there is no one size fits all and the best thing you can do for your lawn is trial and error. Take your time and really get to know what’s best for your yard and you will soon have the best looking yard in the neighborhood.
