After the long winter months, plants start growing and blooming. As the temperatures warm up, it may be time for you to focus on your garden and yard. Cool temperatures may be hard on your grass, so you must provide support for your lawn for it to grow back full and green. Here are four tips for revitalizing your lawn after winter.
1. Remove the dead layer.
Sometimes known as thatch, over the winter months the top layer of grass dies and turns into a rough patch of brown. This dense thatch can impede the growth of younger, greener blades underneath it. Remove most of the top layer of thatch by raking it gently off. You can leave a small, half-inch layer of thatch to help protect the younger grass beneath it from fluctuating temperatures as it continues to heat and cool into spring.
2. Think about weed control.
As other plants recover following the winter months, weeds also come into play. To keep your lawn from sprouting a forest of weeds, make sure that you find the weed control method that works best for you. Your strategy for weed control will be largely influenced by the types and abundance of weed that usually spring up in your yard. You can remove weeds by hand, use a chemical weed killer, or consult a local weed control service to help you maintain the balance between desired plants and weeds in your yard.
3. Test the soil's pH.
If you notice that your lawn has not recovered from the winter months, it may be a good time to check the pH of the soil in your yard. You can obtain a pH testing kit at most hardware stores. Lime can correct soil that is too acidic, and sulfate can correct soil that is too alkaline. A professional landscaper can also help you to correct the soil's pH, with the added benefit of common knowledge about soil conditions in your area as well.
4. Wait to mow your lawn.
Waiting to mow your lawn in early spring is a best practice for lawn care. Young grass does not have an extensive or mature root system and needs time to grow to become adequate. Let your lawn grow for the first few weeks of spring. Once you do decide to move, make sure that you do not cut the blades of grass too short.
When you move into a new home, relandscaping the garden is one way to have it reflect your personality. However, before buying any new plants, you need to know which ones suit your location climate the best.
When it is time to learn about landscaping and plants, but you don't know where to start, then you come to this website and start reading. Climate has a big impact on how well your new plants grow, so it is important to learn about soil testing, plant choice, and growth optimization, amongst other things.
The more you learn about plant choice and then their care, the better the odds of successful growing days.