How To Take Care Of Your Lawn In The Spring: The Complete Guide

Feb

As the winter season comes to an end and temperatures start to rise, it means a few things. You get to spend more time outside, the days will become a bit longer, and of course, it's time to start your spring lawn care regimen.

But wait - how do you go about taking care of your lawn in spring? And what all goes into taking care of a lawn in spring?

If you're looking to learn all about spring lawn care, you've come to the right place. Today, we'll teach you how to take care of your lawn in the spring. You'll learn when to start spring lawn care based on your specific location, along with the necessary steps for lawn care in spring. By the end of this in-depth guide, you'll feel confident in getting your lawn back to life and looking stunning - creating a yard you're proud to show off.

And, if you are in the Alpharetta, GA area and just want to relax while we handle your spring lawn care for you, don't hesitate to reach out. Michaelangelo's is the #1 choice for lawn care year-round in the Atlanta area. More on that later. First - let's discuss the importance of learning how to take care of a lawn in springtime.

Why Learning How to Take Care of Your Lawn in the Spring is So Important

As we stated, taking care of your lawn in spring is vital to having a healthy, green, and gorgeous lawn all season long. Just like any living thing, your grass needs the proper nutrients and attention to grow - especially during the early months when it's coming out of dormancy.

If you don't take care of your lawn properly in the spring, you could end up with problems that last all season. For example, if you don't fertilize or seed your lawn in spring, you run the risk of having thin or patchy grass that's more susceptible to disease and pests. Not ideal!

On the other hand, if you put in the time and effort to take care of your lawn properly in springtime, you'll be rewarded with a lawn that's the envy of the neighborhood. A healthy lawn in spring sets the foundation for a beautiful yard all season long - meaning less work (and money) for you down the road.

If you want to learn more, read our related guides - are lawn care services worth it? And if so, what are the benefits of commercial landscaping? Now that we've discussed why spring lawn care is so important, let's move on to what goes into taking care of your lawn during this time of year.

What Does Taking Care of Your Lawn in Spring Entail?

When most people think about taking care of their lawns, they think about mowing and watering. And while those two activities are definitely part of taking care of your lawn, there's so much more to it than that! Here are all the tasks that should be on your spring lawn care to-do list:

Fertilizing
Seeding
Aerating
Mowing
Watering
Weeding
Trimming & Edging

As you can see, there's a lot that goes into taking care of a lawn in spring! And while it may seem like a lot of work, don't worry - we'll walk you through each task so you know exactly what to do - in what order. Plus, once you get into a routine, these tasks will become second nature year after year. Before you know it, your lawn will be the talk of the neighborhood. But, when it comes to learning how to take care of your lawn in spring, timing is everything.

So, with that said, let's talk about when to start spring lawn care depending on your specific region.

When to Start Spring Lawn Care Depending on Where You Live

One of the most common questions we get about this topic is when to start spring lawn care. And it's a good question. If you start too early, your efforts will be wasted as your grass is still hibernating. If you start too late, you've wasted precious time that could have been spent preparing your lawn for summer. And while there's no definitive answer, the general rule of thumb is to start when the grass starts growing.

Of course, that can be difficult to determine - especially if you're not familiar with your specific type of grass. In general, cool-season grasses (like bluegrass and fescue) start growing earlier in spring than warm-season grasses (like bermudagrass and zoysia). So, if you live in an area with cool-season grasses, you may need to start your spring lawn care regimen a bit earlier.

Not sure what type of grass you have? No problem! Just reach out to your local lawn care expert and they'll be able to tell you. And speaking of experts, that's where we come in. At Michaelangelo's, we're the experts in yard care in Alpharetta & the surrounding area. Our landscape design and maintenance service is the #1 choice in the region. We can take all this work off your plate and help you achieve the lawn of your dreams. You can free up a bunch of time that you'd otherwise spend toiling out in the yard through our services.

We'll talk more about our service later on. First, we're going to get into what you really came here for - to learn how to take care of your lawn in the spring.

How to Take Care of a Lawn in Spring: Steps to Perfect Grass

We've talked about what all goes into taking care of your lawn in spring - and we've explained when to start spring lawn care. Now - it's just a matter of putting it all together with a spring lawn care plan. Down below, we'll teach you how to take care of a lawn in spring, step by step.

With our help, you'll have the greenest lawn on the block in no time! But before we get into the actual steps to taking care of your lawn in spring, be sure you've tuned up your lawn mower and grabbed all your essentials: fertilizer, fresh seed, weed killer, etc. We recommend getting the blades on your mower sharpened each season to ensure a smooth cut. Not only will this make your lawn look better, it makes your work easier.

To kick off your spring lawn care, clean things up in the yard.

Step One: Clean up & Rake the Lawn

Before you can actually get to taking care of your lawn in spring, you need to uncover it. Chances are, your lawn is littered with debris from nearby trees over the past few months. Clean up any stray branches, and trash. Then, rake the lawn of leaves. This may uncover an unpleasant surprise underneath: the presence of weeds.

Step Two: Kill any Weeds That Have Survived the Winter Season

Maybe you’re lucky enough to have gotten through an entire winter season with no weeds to show for it. However, there may be signs of crabgrass, clover, or other weed varieties poking through your lawn. Before you can start to provide your lawn with some care, you need to eliminate these weeds.

Certain areas - like the Northern US - will benefit from weed prevention measures at this point, too. You can get ahead of weed varieties that rear their ugly heads in the summer and fall seasons by spreading weed preventers now.

In terms of killing active weeds in your lawn right now, what type of product should you use? There are weed-and-feed products that claim to help you kill off these weeds while feeding your lawn, but the jury is still out on the effectiveness of these mixes. We recommend you go all in on killing weeds - and once they’re gone, you can get into the fun part. Once there is nothing between you and your precious grass, you can start applying fresh seed to your lawn.

Step Three: Apply Fresh Seed (If Needed)

The second step in your spring lawn care checklist - after cleaning up your yard and clearing out weeds - is to identify any patchy, sad-looking areas that could use some fresh grass seed. After particularly brutal winters, it's very likely that your lawn will have died off a bit. This can be caused by snow sitting atop the lawn for too long, or simply from freezing temperatures. The good news is, you can fill your lawn back in with a quick seeding.

Within a few weeks or months, those fresh seeds will start poking through the soil. It’s important to get seed that matches your existing grass - or things will obviously look incongruent throughout your yard.

hen it comes to actually applying the fresh seed, you want to also apply a thin layer of soil overtop. This gives the fresh seed protection from the elements and allows it to take root into the layer underneath easier. And, you want to water daily for a few weeks - keeping the fresh seed moist and encouraging it to germinate.

Don’t mow over these fresh areas - or walk over them, for that matter - until the new grass is at least 2” high. You can stake and tape these areas off to protect them if necessary.

Step Four: Fertilize Your Lawn

The next step in taking care of your lawn in spring is fertilizing. This helps your grass get the nutrients it needs to grow strong and healthy. Think about it like this - your lawn has been dormant for the past 3-6 months (depending on how long your winters are). To get your grass rejuvenated, you need to feed it!

And while you can definitely do this yourself, we recommend reaching out to a professional. They'll be able to test your soil and determine which type of fertilizer will work best for your specific lawn. Otherwise, you'll need to do some additional research.

When it comes to actually applying fertilizer, you can either take a manual approach or a more efficient push cart-fertilizing tactic. If you've just got a small lawn, you can use a hand-spreading approach. Otherwise, you may want to invest in (or borrow) a push cart that can be filled with fertilizer.

Step Five: Continuous Lawn Care Throughout Late Spring

Once you’ve gotten to this step, much of the hard work has been done. Now - it’s just about maintaining your lawn throughout the spring as you prepare for summer.

We recommend mowing at a high setting at this point. For one, your grass won’t grow quickly until temperatures heat up more anyways. But, the real benefit to mowing high is that you’re encouraging your grass to take root deeper in the soil - becoming stronger. A good rule of thumb is to never trim more than a third of your grass at any given time - this can seriously stress it out. Stick with a 3”-4” blade for spring. You can drop it lower during summer when the grass grows faster.

You can also take time to edge your lawn every time you mow. This adds a level of professionalism to your lawn. You can also add additional seed during late spring - a few months after the initial seeding you did.

Another consideration is aeration. This isn’t just something golf courses do - every type of yard can benefit from decompacting the soil and revitalizing it, which is exactly what aeration does. Chances are, you don’t have the equipment for aeration on hand - but maybe someone you know does. Otherwise, you’ll want to reach out to a professional. Speaking of professionals, let’s talk about how you can avoid all this work with the help of Michaelangelo.

Want Help Taking Care of Your Lawn in Spring? Reach out Today!

If you’re looking for landscapers in Alpharetta to help you take charge of your lawn and create a yard you’re proud of, look no further than Michaelangelo’s.

We’re the #1 choice for residential landscape maintenance in Alpharetta - but if you’ve got a lawn at your commercial property you need help with, we’re up for the task. As an experienced commercial landscape maintenance company in Alpharetta, we’re equipped to handle apartment landscape maintenance, hotel landscaping, townhome landscaping, office park landscaping, and much more. You name it, we can do it - and we’ll exceed your expectations along the way.

With us as your landscape maintenance company, you don’t just get assistance with your spring lawn care needs. We’re in your corner year-round - with 46 visits throughout the year. And while you came here to learn how to take care of your lawn in the spring, that’s not all we’ll do for you. We’re full service. That means you don’t just get lawn care, but irrigation management, ground cover pruning, ornamental and shrub pruning, blowing, edging, and a lot more.

And, if you decide that this is the year you’re going to start fresh, spring is the best time to do it. We can help with all your Reach out about our landscape design in Alpharetta, too.

Final Thoughts on How to Take Care of Your Lawn in the Spring

We hope this resource has provided you with clarity on how to take care of a lawn in spring.

Now that you know what goes into taking care of your lawn in spring, when to start spring lawn care, and all the necessary steps, you have a choice to make. Are you going to handle all this yourself, or would you rather let a professional manage your lawn and create a stunning yard you want to show off to everyone? If you’re in the Atlanta area, get in touch today to learn more about how we can help make your dream yard a reality.