Spring

Making sure that signs of frost are over and your lawn is coming out of dormancy, it is time to start doing some light yard work. Start to clean up any debris left from the winter on your lawn.

This is the time to start fertilizing your lawn again. This will help your seedlings come out of their dormancy. You’ll want to keep in mind the pH of your soil to make sure not to over-fertilize at this point.

If you’re like me, you’ll be so excited to jump right into your normal lawn care routine, however, you may need to hold off just a little longer. Make sure your grass is at least 3 inches before mowing again and waiting until it is even taller is better. Longer blades of grass will allow the roots to grow deeper and provide beneficial pollinators a place to stay first thing in the spring.

Summer

You’ll want to start handling pests and weeds in the early summer. Common pests include grubs and moles, while common weeds include dandelions and crabgrass. Make sure to get on top of pest management before it becomes pest control.

Grass that gets at least an inch of water per week will stay green and healthy. If rainfall is sparse, watering your grass is recommended. Early morning—between 6 am and 10 am—is the best time to water your lawn to minimize evaporation.

If you are in an area where it gets extremely hot and to the point where you are worried about drought, Plant Juice and Bloom Juice are perfect to add to your watering regime. Not only is fertilizing your lawn important but the ingredients in our products are formulated with beneficial microbes in mind. Adding our products to your watering adds all the benefits of the fertilizers you are used to, with bonus ingredients for years of benefits to come.

For best lawn care, establish a regular mowing routine and keep your mower blades sharp. It’s always better to mow a little grass each week than to let your grass grow too tall and cut several inches off at one time. Consistent mowing with a sharp blade ensures a clean cut, which helps cut down on moisture loss and prevents disease.

Fall

Fall is the perfect time to over-seed and fill in the bare spots that your lawn may have. Seeding now gives your lawn the advantage of not having to compete with spring weeds and is the perfect way to get a leg up on establishing nice deep roots.

You don’t want those leaves to pile up in your yard but you also don’t want to rake them up, mow them down to little chunks, and read more about why you don’t actually need to rake your leaves in this article.

Now is the perfect time to add a round of fertilizer to your lawn, providing the necessary nutrients that will give your lawn the best start next spring.

Finally, keep mowing your grass until it goes dormant. On your last cut of the season, set your mower blade to its lowest height to get a nice, short cut. Short grass is more resilient to damage and disease over the cold winter months.

This is also a great time to get your soil tested to determine if you need some better fertilizers; this is perfect if you’ve been doing lawn maintenance for a couple of years and don’t see any differences.

Now that you have fertilized and seeded your lawn, you can relax and plan your lawn care for the Spring. During the winter season, you will only need to protect your lawn by making sure nobody walks on the grass when it is frozen.

Think about what troubles your lawn and make notes about it, then research the solutions. This will prepare you for the next year.

It is also a good opportunity to upgrade some of your lawn equipment while you have them stored away. You can work on your equipment and figure out how to upgrade some of the issues you ran into in the past year.