GardenWise’s Guide to Maintaining Your Lawn Throughout the Entire Year

Temperatures will begin rising during the spring season, which means the grass will begin to grow. Because of this, it will need more fertilizer and water than usual. You’ll want to invest in some fertilizer to keep the lawn looking as green as possible. Look for a pre-packaged feed that contains plenty of nitrogen. Nitrogen is what will help the grass to grow in a strong and healthy manner. If your area is experiencing a dry spell, you’ll want to water towards the lawn towards the end of spring. Because the grass will begin growing faster after the winter months have passed, you’ll have to be sure to mow the lawn on a regular basis as well. Another task you will want to do is to aerate the lawn. You can do this by simply spiking the lawn with a pitchfork. This will allow air to circulate down to the roots as well as break up any compacted soil.

The summer is a much dryer season, and one that introduces higher temperatures to the lawn. Avoid using fertilizer unless your lawn needs it and there is rain forecast in the near future. Without rainfall, fertilizer can cause the lawn to become stressed or even scorched due to dry or hot weather. Most lawns will recover relatively quickly from droughts, but you should still water it if the conditions are extreme to keep it from looking dry. If you do water the lawn, do so early in the morning or later in the evening, when the water isn’t going to evaporate as quickly. Like in the spring, you’ll want to mow regularly unless your area is going through a drought. If you mow your lawn when it is incredibly dry, you run the risk of damaging the grass. You may also begin to experience more weed growth during the summer months, which means you’ll want to get out there to remove any weeds by the roots.

The fall is all about preventative maintenance. You are in essence preparing your lawn for the coming of winter. In order to keep your lawn looking clean and cared for, you’ll want to rake the leaves that fall on a regular basis. Like spring, you’ll want to add fertilizer to the grass. Instead of looking for a fertilizer that contains nitrogen, you’ll want to use one that is high in potassium. Potassium will not only help to encourage the strong growth of your grass, it will also help to toughen it up so that it will survive through the winter. Like the summer, you’ll also want to aerate the soil. Once you’ve aerated the soil, pick up a high quality top-dressing and brush it into the holes that were created via aeration.

There isn’t much to do during the winter, so hopefully you did everything you could during the fall to make sure your grass makes it through the colder months of the year. Just be sure to avoid walking on the lawn during frosty periods of the season – doing so can cause black marks to appear where the grass is. Also be sure to clear any debris from the lawn. You won’t want anything blocking out the sunlight during the winter as this can kill your grass.