Rake Your Lawn to Wake It Up

The winter months are essential in order to renew the minerals in soil, but unfortunately a long winter can cause some damage to your lawn. While your kids roll up snowmen and you try to shovel the shortest path to your car, you may be inadvertently killing the grass below the snow. As the weather warms up and your grass starts to green again, matted brown patches will be easy to spot and treat. So now it’s time to work and prepare for new grass. After months of being cooped up in your house, put on your gloves, and step out into the fresh air.

Spring Lawn Care

One of the best things you can do for your lawn in the spring is to pick up all of the branches and sticks that you ignored last fall or that fell during the winter. Clean up the toys that your kids swore they lost for good. Clean up any old animal droppings, and get rid of any sprouting weeds. Remove the things that will suffocate your lawn and prevent it from flourishing. For strong, lush grass you want your lawn to soak in as much air, water, and nutrients as possible.

One problem you might find is that, during the winter, the weight of the snow led to soil compaction. This happens when the air pores between the soil particles are displaced and the ground becomes too dense to absorb nutrients and host plant growth. In order to alleviate this, it’s best to walk around and use a sturdy rake or pitchfork to repeatedly stab a few inches into your soil. This will loosen the soil, aerate your lawn, and allow nutrients to seep deep into the roots.

After your grass has left its dormancy stage, matted brown patches will be easily spotted. Gently use a rake to comb these patches. Rake out the matted, dead grass and allow new growth to emerge. It may be necessary to completely de-thatch your lawn if you grass seems patchy or weak. After you wake up your lawn, add a generous amount of grass seed and mulch or compost to help encourage prosperous growth.

Spring Lawn Fertilization

Throughout the Spring, keep your lawn fertilized and as the ground dries, gently rake the rest of your lawn to remove old grass clippings. It is important that you avoid raking too aggressively in order to avoid pulling up new growth that may still have shallow roots. When summer begins, protect your lawn for the scorching sun by watering your lawn and mowing your grass regularly at a height of 3”. If you mow often enough, you won’t have bag your clippings.