Homethority Maintenance Inc. helps homeowners with scheduled home maintenance content, products and solutions.
Our goal is to allow our clients the ability to spend more time with their family and friends, by making their home reliable and a pleasure to spend time in.
Spring is coming and you are ready to have the best lawn on the block.
Through a couple of easy steps - dethatching, aeration and fertilization - you can take to ensure a green and lush lawn that is protected against weeds, insects and disease, which is also drought resistant and consumes less water.
When it comes to dethatching, if your lawn has been well maintained, all you need to do is give it a light raking once the ground has dried out. However, thick and lush lawns from the previous year, actually need some additional help. Power raking will not only remove old debris, but will show any problem areas you may have with your lawn, such as low spots, disease, gravel and salt damage.
You can perform a power rake with a specialized rake or special lawnmower blade. Personally, we like to use a special lawnmower blade on a mulching lawnmower, as the old grass and debris can go immediately into the lawn clipping bag for easy cleanup. An added benefit is some of the grass clippings and aeration plugs are mulched during this process, thus adding some nutrients back into the lawn. A third benefit is that this blade can be used in the Fall time to clean up leaves and prep your grass for the Winter months.
Remember to use goggles to keep the dust and small grass clippings out of your eyes and ear plugs to protect your ears if using a lawnmower. Personally, we use ski goggles or the 3M Goggle Gear 500 to keep our eyes completely sealed.
Aeration can be performed on your lawn each year. It is quite simple and one of the best turf-grass horticulture practices out there. Core aeration machines remove thousands of small cylindrical cores of earth and grass from the base of the lawn. This treatment, effectively breaks up the thatch barrier that forms on the top of the lawn after a long winter season. As this barrier is broken down and the soil compaction resulting from the weight of the snow is relieved, the lawn is now able to breathe again and can absorb all the new growing season has to offer. Spring rain, oxygen, fertilizer and nutrients will quickly reach the root system with ease. It also works wonders in high traffic areas, where soil has been compacted.
Ensure your lawnmower blade is sharpened at the start of the season and check it during the season as well. If you don’t use a special blade after you aerate, then leave sharpening your blade until after the first or second cut.
Fertilization works best once your grass is well-established, as you can encourage its growth and discourage weeds by applying a combination of fertilizers and herbicides. When you should apply fertilizer and how much you should apply depends on several factors, like where you live and the extent of your weed problem.
Fertilizer can help your lawn grow thick and lush, but if it's not used properly, it can actually damage the grass. There are many types of fertilizers to choose from organic and chemical based. A slow-release nitrogen fertilizer is best, and no more than 1 pound of nitrogen should be spread per 1,000 square feet. It should be applied early in the season when the turf begins actively growing, so the timing varies among regions. Fertilizer should not be applied too early or late, however, as lingering cold or early heat can stress the grass. Water is an important factor when using fertilizer, so check the packaging to see when and how much to use.
May or early Spring is a great time to get your first fertilizer treatment down, prior to the Spring showers. Remember to brush off your sidewalks, stepping stones, front steps, driveways and the sidewalk after your apply a fertilizer, with a good quality and properly designed push broom, as the fertilizer can cause a chemical reaction and damage these surfaces.
If you don’t want to use a fertilizer to control weeds, then purchase a weed puller. There are many weed pullers on the market and they will certainly save your knees and back if you go with an upright one. As bonus, they provide a small amount of aeration to your lawn.
Lush and healthy green lawns are always the envy of the neighborhood and certainly help your property value. It also offers a great place for your kids to play and for yourself to relax. Through the proper steps of dethatching, aeration and fertilization, you can help your lawn with drought protection and reduce water usage; thus saving you money and protection against weeds, insects and disease.
Homethority encourages you to take the three easy steps of: dethatching, aeration and fertilization. By doing so, your lawn will reap the benefits and your neighbors may even think your last name is “Jones”. So get out there and make your lawn lush and green.
