Five and a Half Tips for Improving Your Lawn This Spring
Spring is almost here and with it will be the sound of birds and lawn mowers! Spring is an exciting time of year when it comes to the care of our lawns - all the more so this year off the back of a lot of frozen weather! Here are my five and a half tips to improving your lawn this spring.
Five and a Half Tips for Improving Your Lawn This Spring
1) Regular mowing at a height of at least 25mm (1")
Regular mowing is the foundation of any great looking lawn. Mowing is us pruning the grass – if we do this little and often it will keep the lawn healthy and encourage it to thicken up.
The frequency of your mowing should be dictated by how much growth there is, rather than judging by the date. When growth is strong, such as in a typical May or June, mowing your lawn once per week is a good starting point.
Remember that the shorter you cut your lawn, the less leaf mass the grass has in order to produce its food. Thereby the lower you mow, the more stress that is placed on the grass.
Lift your mower up to a higher setting, never taking more than a third of the total height of the grass with any given cut.
Remember - little and often!
2) Consider a light scarification of your lawn
This one is more for the lawn enthusiast, but if you have a scarifier (powered lawn rake), spring can be a good time to use this machine to lift the grass before cutting, or to remove moss and thatch from the lawn. Even a gentle scarification can make a huge difference as a light clear out before any lawn treatment service applications.
We’ve seen many scarifier attempts go wrong – every lawn is different and different grasses have different requirements. We have a dedicated lawn scarification page on our website with further help for you.
3) Aeration, aeration, aeration
The best bio-stimulant for lawns is… Oxygen! Lawn aeration is where we use a specialist machine to spike lawns to a depth of 75-125mm. Most sports pitches are aerated on a monthly basis. We recommend an annual aeration on our lawns. The benefits include:
- Improved airspace in the soil therefore improved root development
- Improved surface drainage
- Improved nutrient uptake from seasonal treatments
- Stimulates beneficial microscopic bugs and bacteria in the soil
Some aeration can be achieved with aerator shoes (please don’t break an ankle in those things!) and a garden fork. A machine working to a consistent depth is best and without breaking the bank either. You can learn more about lawn aeration on our website.
4) Overseeding?
Following scarification and / or aeration is the best time to seed areas of your lawn if it is required for spring lawn repair. Seed will require:
- Good seed-to-soil contact (ie. Brush seed into the holes / grooves made)
- Consistent moisture (water daily)
- 10c+ soil temperature – save seeding until mid / late April onwards as a guide
- Patience. Spring provides slow germination due to the cooler temperatures
5) Apply a spring treatment
There are so many different fertilisers out there with differing benefits and provide food for your lawn for different periods of time. Most DIY products only last for 2-4 weeks before they are used up by your lawn. This isn’t good for the diet of your grass or the environment.
Professional products have a typical longevity of 8-12 weeks dependent on application rates and conditions, and are safe to apply in hot and dry conditions.
We use a market leading product in early-spring, and a semi-organic feed in late-spring and summer for three of the best possible granular fertiliser applications as part of our lawn services.
We gain incredible results when these products go hand in hand with our other top tips. Get an Instant Estimate Now to ensure you don’t miss out on your spring visit.
5.5) Enjoy the garden!
We do it because we love the outdoors, the curb appeal, the first impressions, the love of the smell, and the escape from the office or other chores! Gardening has huge benefits for our health and wellbeing, and the satisfaction gained from a job well done.
Enjoy it!
Can we help?
Spring is a busy time of year. The above five tasks dependent on conditions could be being carried out anytime from February and even into June. It's an extremely busy time of year for us!
If we can help with your lawn this year, then please feel free to get in touch via the contact form below, gaining an Instant Estimate inside 60 seconds, or you can call us on 01827 826123.