Spring Home Lawn Care

Spring time is a crucial time for golf course managers to make sure they get their grasses started off on the right foot.  It is also just as crucial for all of us homeowners if you want that lawn that all of your neighbors are envious of.  There are many steps you can take to ensure that you are doing everything to give it that advantage.

As soil temps start to warm up and the amount of sunlight in the day starts to increase the grass is going to want to green up.  We need to take some steps to maximize both the amount of light that reaches the soil and the temperature of the soil.  The more light that hits the soil, the more heat that will reach the soil – makes sense.  The biggest step we take in the golf industry to maximize this is to scalp off the excess dead, dormant material (brown grass) to allow for new growth and more sunlight.  That brown stuff can get pretty thick, especially with the harsh winters we have had as of late.  If left alone it will just shade out the soil and slightly delay that green up effect.  The scalping is a one-time deal – do not leave the mowing height at that low height after this is done.  Typically, I will lower our mowing heights from 25-50% below the height of cut that you use during the growing season – it just depends on how thick your turf is.  Don’t go from 3” height down to dirt level – that won’t help anything.  If you mow your St. Augustine at 2.5”, I would lower the height to around 1.5-1.75” and start there.  You can always lower the height again if you feel it needs to be lower.  Just remember you’re not looking to take off all of the brown material, you’re just trying to give the plant some room to grow.  You also want to do this before the grass really gets growing so you are removing more dead material then viable, green material.  I always shoot for around the first of March, especially if trees are greening up and budding. 

One important thing most homeowners forget is to take care of your machines that maintain your grass.  I know I’m nothing as a superintendent without my equipment staff.  It might be the most critical part of turf maintenance.  The biggest thing is keeping a sharp blade.  The mowing process is stressful to turf, even with a sharp blade, don’t make it worse by using a blade that is as dull as your finger.  I see so many homeowners that end up with weedy, thin yards, simply because they mow to low, don’t mow often enough, and mow with super dull blades.  Might as well just put rock in your yard and go desert style, because you ain’t growing grass!!  It’s pretty simple – one bolt to remove the blade, take it off and use your bench grinder to sharpen the blade only on the angled side.  If you need help with this just bring it to me and I’ll show you here at our shop.  If you don’t want to sharpen it, go buy a new one.  Trust me, the $20 to get one will pay for itself in turf quality.  I like to sharpen mine at least 2-3 times per year. Use the winter time, when you aren’t using the mower to go through the rest of the machine – change the oil and air filter, pressure wash it, etc.  Get it in prime condition because you know once the summer comes you won’t have time for that. 

After your grass gets a nice scalp down and is ready for growth this is a good time to get your spring preemerge and fertilizer out to protect it from spring weeds and give it the nutrients it needs to get growing out of dormancy.  Scott’s Bonus S is a great product and one that I use at home.  They make it easy for homeowners.  It does have some post emergent effects on weeds (meaning it will kill weeds that are already there), but it is mostly used to help prevent weeds from coming up. Read the label carefully before application!! If you don’t get the product out evenly you might as well not even use it.  Get it watered in and washed down to the soil and off the leaf blade.  You can time it with an upcoming rain (although not a heavy washout type rain). 

Taking these steps will help ensure that your lawn gets the advantage it needs to be lush and green this spring/summer.  For those of you that have someone take care of your lawn, don’t be afraid to ask these same questions to the guy in charge.  Trust me, they will take whatever short cut they can to maximize their profit and they may not do all of these things, especially if you as the homeowner don’t know yourself what needs to be done.  If you have any questions about this part of lawn maintenance or any other please don’t hesitate to give me a call or stop by.  I’m here to help!!