5 Essential Steps to Reviving Your Lawn This Spring

You want to keep up with all of your Northeast Ohio lawn’s needs throughout the year. 

And spring is one of those important times when you don’t want to delay too long or mess anything up. You don’t want to miss your moment and notice that your grass color is now off or that you missed a fertilization window or that weeds are taking over your lawn. 

Spring is the time you get outside to enjoy your lawn after all. You don’t want to be the only one who can’t enjoy their lawn because it looks bad or is the one neighbors stop and stare at for all the wrong reasons. 

Let’s talk about the best ways for rejuvenating a lawn in spring so you can get a better handle on what tasks you need to focus on come springtime, so your lawn is the one everyone on the block admires. 

Lawn Rejuvenation 101

Lawn care is certainly not a one time thing. It’s a process that is a year-long endeavor to ensure good health for your grass. 

And spring is when the year kicks off for your lawn.

Follow these tips for how to revitalize a lawn to ensure you give your grass the best start possible. 

#1. Spring Cleaning 

Spring cleaning happens inside, sure. But it also happens outside. 

Once the winter begins fading away, it’s time to clean up your yard. You can lightly rake up dead leaves and debris. You don’t want to be aggressive as you do this and take out chunks of your lawn, but you do want to clear the lawn so it can receive sun, air, water, and nutrients to grow properly. 

Also remember to keep your eyes open for bare spots or areas where your lawn seems impacted by snow mold, salt, or snow plow damage. If you notice any issues, flag these areas for repair and overseeding later so you can rejuvenate a lawn right.  

#2. Prep Your Mower and Embrace Mowing Best Practices

It may not be time to mow yet in very early spring or late winter, but you can prepare your mower for use.

How do you do this? Sharpen your mower blades, fill the tires with air, change the oil, and make sure everything works like it should. Check these things throughout the year as well to ensure you get a great cut every time. 

When it’s time to mow, you want to avoid making some common mowing mistakes, such as mowing to the wrong height, mowing at the wrong frequency, and using unmaintained mowing equipment with unsharpened mower blades. That’s certainly not the best way for rejuvenating a lawn. 

The ideal Northeast Ohio lawn height is 3 to 4 inches. This grass height optimizes your lawn health, so that it can grow thick and green and resist weeds. At times, you could be tempted to cut your lawn short to save yourself time. When you cut your lawn too short, you stress it out and it could turn yellow, brown, or give weeds a free pass as a result. 

Once the growing season is consistent, you’ll mow weekly to maintain the ideal height. Remember to never cut off more than one-third of your grass blades at any one time.

Also, never mow your grass when it’s wet. Wet grass blades can clump together and topple to one side, giving you a raggedy cut. They can also clog your mower deck, leaving clumps that you have to pick up later. 

As you mow, remember to walk at an even pace – approximately 3 miles per hour or less. And recycling your grass clippings with a mulching mower so you return your clippings in smaller pieces to your lawn, providing additional nutrients as they break down, is a great option. 

#3. Spring Fertilization

Your soil can suffer impaction from traffic and rainfall. The years strip away nutrients and organic matter from your soil. This creates a less-than-ideal environment to grow grass. 

That’s where fertilization comes in for rejuvenating a lawn. It provides your lawn with the nutrients the soil may be lacking. Remember, fertilization is important in the spring when the growing season kicks off to build top growth, but it’s also important again in fall when the growing season settles down for root growth. 

#4. Fight Spring Weeds

Weeds compete with your grass for water and nutrients, much like how a bully steals lunch money from other kids at school. 

Knowing which weeds infest your lawn and the optimal treatment timing for each weed can help you better control them and keep them away from your healthy grass. 

In spring, putting down a pre-emergent herbicide application can help your lawn rejuvenation process to help you tackle those nasty weeds like crabgrass that are best controlled prior to germination. Pre-emergent herbicides are commonly applied earlier in the spring and then again later in the spring to provide an extended period of control.

#5 Water Right 

In spring, water may not be a big problem since rainfall is usually adequate for your lawn. But knowing the correct way to water grass is a lawn rejuvenation item that you want to keep in mind since water is important for your lawn’s overall performance and vigor. 

If you notice yellow grass blades, for instance, this could be the result of insufficient water. 

Your lawn needs roughly 2 inches of water each week. If it doesn’t receive that from Mother Nature, you want to add water with supplemental irrigation via a system or sprinklers. 

Lawns can also receive too much water, which can also lead to yellow color or spots resulting from disease.

Watering your lawn involves long, deep watering to encourage strong, deep roots and healthy grass. If you water too often for short periods, the roots may only grow near the surface. Your goal is always deeper roots. 

Watering in the early morning is also key, since sun and wind can evaporate the water before it gets a chance to soak into the soil. 

Lawn Rejuvenation is Easy with Turf Pride

Tending to your lawn can be time-consuming. To succeed, you must maintain proper mowing, watering, fertilizing, weed control, and other treatments to ensure success. And we hope following these tips on how to revitalize a lawn helps you stay on top of the chore.

We know this process can be daunting in spring when you have other things to do, and it can be easy to get confused as to what you need to do first. We completely get it. 

Want your weekend time back? Turf Pride is happy to take this job off of your hands. You can choose from our different lawn care programs based on the results you want and your budget, and we’d be happy to look at your lawn and tell you what services you need in order to start spring off right. 

Ready to learn why Turf Pride is your choice for lawn care services in Northeast Ohio? We’re excited to learn more about you and help you have the best lawn on the block. Get started today with a free quote. Together, we can prepare a customized plan that is perfect for you and your lawn.