How to Prep Your Lawn for a Victoria Summer
Spring is an exciting time to get out into your yard and work on your gardens and lawn. Taking the right steps during spring can set your lawn up for success in the summer, ensuring lush green grass and a healthy lawn that will be the envy of your neighbors. Here are some spring lawn care tips from the team at tuf-turf that will help prepare your lawn for the summer season:
Soil Preparation – The first step to a healthy lawn is to ensure that the soil is in good condition. Soil can become compacted during the winter months, which can make it harder for grass to grow. Consider aerating your lawn in the spring to allow air, water, and nutrients to penetrate the soil more easily. Top dressing your lawn with the tuf-turf sandy lawn blend is another great way to add nutrients and offers a great surface for overseeding.
Overseeding – Over time, lawns can become thin due to foot traffic, disease, and other factors. Spring is an excellent time to overseed your lawn, which involves adding new grass seed to existing areas of the lawn to improve density. This will ensure that your lawn is full and lush during the summer months.
Tip: buy seeds that has been formulated both for overseeding and our region. The Overseed blend from tuf-turf is designed for our region.
Fertilizer – Spring is also the perfect time for the first fertilizer your lawn receives. Fertilizer provides essential nutrients that grass needs to grow, including nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. We sell several different lawn fertilizers at tuf-turf and will help you choose the right one for the job. In this case, we would recommend a fertilizer that is specifically designed for a spring application, as this will provide the right balance of nutrients for your lawn’s needs. Knowledge: Did you know that soil loses nitrogen over time? One way this happens is through a process called “leaching.” When it rains or when we water our plants, water can carry nitrogen and other nutrients down through the soil layers and out of reach of plant roots.
Weed Control – Spring is the time when weeds start to appear in lawns. It’s important to remove weeds before they can take root and spread throughout the lawn. Hand-pull weeds as they appear. It will take some labour but is healthy for both the environment and your fitness tracker!
Watering – Finally, ensure that your lawn is well-watered during the spring months. Grass needs approximately one inch of water per week, either through rainfall or irrigation. Water deeply, regularly but not too often to encourage strong root growth. Usually, this means no more than once per week although you could split the 1 inch up into a half inch in the morning and another half inch in the evening of the same day. Putting a cup, can or some small container on your lawn is a great way to measure how much water is being applied by your system. Note: check different areas of your lawn as irrigation or sprinklers can provide different amounts of water in those different areas. This measurement is also a great way to investigate how your irrigation system or process is doing and whether it may need adjustments.
In conclusion, taking care of your lawn during the spring months will help ensure that it thrives during the summer season. By following these essential tips, you’ll be well on your way to a beautiful and healthy lawn that you can enjoy all summer long.
Note: if you are looking to start a new lawn there are three methods we can help you with at tuf-turf
- Put down the appropriate amount of soil, then the grass seed and starter fertilizer
- If you want a natural lawn quickly, then laying down new live turf/sod can get you off to a great start fast!
- Lastly, you can opt out of the maintenance side of a lawn and consider synthetic artificial turf.