Spring is getting ready to do its thing - Spring. Perhaps the air is filled with love, or is that pollen? Despite our less traditional seasons here in Midlothian and the surrounding areas, we still have seasonal maintenance for our landscaping that you can plan like clockwork. Right now, we are preparing for spring landscaping maintenance, of which a large part (depending on the percentage of grass coverage in your yard) is lawn maintenance. So with the new season coming, what, in general, should you be preparing to do for your lawn? Lawn Maintenance Beyond Mowing Of course, mowing is part of your lawn care routine all year. But now we’re talking about what happens beyond that. It’s also worth noting, however, that depending on the species of grass you have in your yard, now might be time for a change to mowing. Did you know that depending on temperatures and species, the recommended height of your grasses can vary? So as temperatures change, so may the blade height of EKG’s mowers. Now is also an excellent time to assess your lawn. What changed over the cooler seasons? Once we know that, we’ll know how to treat it come spring. Fertilizer If your grass isn’t looking healthy, if we can eliminate over or under-watering, the next thing to consider is food. In the case of grass, that food is the nutrients in the soil. We’ll determine the current makeup of your soil. Then, if you need amendments to change the acidity or nutrition of your soil, we will fertilize your lawn. Weeds Sometimes creating a healthy environment for your grass will attract some unwanted guests. Since weeds are just plants growing in the wrong spot, they will find a way to your lawn if conditions suit them. Luckily, your lawn maintenance tool belt has two categories of tools for removing weeds. Pre-Emergents The best way to get rid of weeds is to make the environment unfriendly to them. However, since you can’t make it utterly unfriendly due to that also being unfriendly for your lawn, the next best thing is to leave no room for weeds to grow by keeping your grass healthy. Another task that can prevent weeds before they start is spreading pre-emergents. Pre-emergents, as the name implies, prevent weeds from growing before they emerge. Rather than targeting a species or killing it on site, pre-emergents target the growth stage of not yet grown weeds. Unfortunately, because they target the growth stage, you can’t use pre-emergents on an unestablished lawn since that will also prevent the grass from growing. For new lawns, you’ll need to use other methods. Weeding While somewhat more difficult than pre-emergents, weeding is sometimes necessary for a healthy and beautiful lawn. It may be possible for certain weeds to remove manually, but often this causes them to spread further through their root systems or by blowing seeds. Often, we will spray post-emergents on weeds. The downside to spraying weeds is it takes more labor and precision than using pre-emergents before they’ve grown. Aeration As a result of our beautiful climate, Virginia lawns probably get more use than other parts of the country. As a result, they need one of the most common lawn maintenance tasks - aeration. When we walk on the ground, the soil gets compact and less hospitable for growing grass. To combat that, we aerate the soil. While an old-fashioned way of aerating involves simply poking holes, our aerators also core up plugs of earth, ensuring that we are not just driving dirt further down for more compaction. Overseeding After aeration, the next step is overseeding, which, as you may have heard, is just what it sounds like. We overseed by spreading seeds over the just aerated ground. The aeration creates the perfect environment for new roots to grow. Not only do the seeds have space, but they are also better able to get water, sunlight, and nutrients. Sod? And finally, if you’ve lost a lot of grass or want to cover a new area with lawn, sod installation might be what you need. But, in most situations with an established lawn, overseeding will be adequate. Let’s Get Started! So are you ready for your spring lawn maintenance? Do you have other pieces of your landscape you need some help maintaining? Give EKG a call so we can take care of all your lawn maintenance and other landscaping needs. It always pays to work with a pro. And it EKG, Quality is job number one.