If you’re a new homeowner and this is your first season taking care of your lawn, you may be feeling overwhelmed; and a lawn care starter kit can help with that.
This blog teaches you to begin lawn care on your property by learning the basics. Then, there will be lawn care equipment ideas to create your starter kit.
How to Begin Lawn Care for a Successful Growing Season
Remember that you’ll need to perform these projects over the entire spring season—not all in one weekend. Once you get into a routine, you may enjoy managing your lawn.
While spring may be in full force where you live, you can tuck some early spring tips into the back of your mind for next season.
Here are 10 projects you need to do for a healthy lawn. These tips also include recommended equipment for your kit to help you complete these chores.
- Rake: All lawns, whether cool season or warm season grasses, need raking to pull up thatch, dead grass, stones, and any other debris that fell on your yard. A lawn sweeper quickly completes this job, and it’s easier on your back!
- Test the soil: Test your soil by taking samples from different parts of your lawn and mixing them in a large Ziploc bag. Then, send the samples to your state’s extension office for testing.
The soil lab will send back the results of your test. It’ll give you the pH number and list what nutrients are missing underground.
- Pre-emergent weed killer: When the forsythia shrub blooms in your neck of the woods, it’s time to put down pre-emergent herbicides. These herbicides provide a barrier to stop crabgrass and other grassy weeds from germinating.
If you live in the northern half of the U.S., you’ll need to apply pre-emergent weed killer in the spring since you have cool season grasses.
If you aerate in the spring because you have a warm season lawn, don’t put down pre-emergent weed killer. Instead, put down pre-emergent in the fall for optimal lawn care.
Since pre-emergent weed killer comes in different forms, you may need a spreader or a lawn sprayer.
- Spring aeration and overseeding: If you have warm season grasses, you’ll aerate using an aerator that pulls up small plugs of soil. Aeration allows the ground to breathe and take in nutrients.
You’ll aerate your lawn in late August or September if you have a cool season yard. And if you have a warm season lawn, you’ll aerate and overseed in the spring. Use a spike and plug aerator to help you get the job done.
- Dethatching your lawn: If your yard has more than a half-inch of thatch, you want to dethatch it with a dethatcher so water, sun, fertilizer, and oxygen can reach the soil.
- Reseeding patchy spots: If you choose not to overseed your warm season lawn this spring or have cool season grasses, you may have areas where there’s no grass growing. You want to rake up the area and put down grass seed to repair it.
A fertilizer spreader does double-duty as a seed spreader as well. You also need a lawn roller to push seed and fertilizer deep into the soil for better germinating.
- Add soil amendments: Turfgrass grows best in soil with a neutral pH. If your soil test shows that the ground has a high or a low pH, you’ll need to add soil amendments to correct the pH for optimal lawn care.
Add lime to neutralize the soil for an acidic lawn (a pH below 7). And if your soil has a high pH, you want to add topdressing or elemental sulfur.
Again, a fertilizer spreader can help you put down soil amendments. Get some help with a tow-behind cart to haul bags of lime or elemental sulfur bags to areas of your lawn that need amending.
- Fertilize: You want a fertilizer that will replace missing nutrients. It’s recommended that you visit an independent garden center where the staff has plant knowledge to guide you. But you can also go to a big-box retailer to buy fertilizer.
Make sure you understand what’s in the fertilizer bag. Turn it over to the back and read the breakdown of nutrients. Do they match your soil needs? Also, plan on following the manufacturer’s directions precisely, or you could burn your turfgrass.
Finally, only fertilize your lawn based on its nutrition needs. You don’t need to fertilize your property more than a few times a year, for optimal lawn care, because too much fertilizer leads to turf diseases, burning your lawn, and sending excess fertilizer into stormwater drains.
You’ll also need a spreader to disperse the fertilizer evenly. Invest in a sturdy fertilizer spreader to assist in lawn care that you can tow or push.
- Mowing: Ensure that your mower is serviced and ready to cut grass. Also, ensure that your mower blades have been sharpened for the season to get a clean cut when you mow. And set your mower height to only take the first third off the top of the turf.
Learn more: 9 Lawn Mowing Tips
- Post-emergent weed killer: As spring marches on, you’ll notice broadleaf weeds popping up. Examples of broadleaf weeds include dandelions, plantains, and chickweed.
If you have a large property, use a lawn sprayer to direct the weed killer onto the weeds and not on your healthy grass or flowerbeds.
Now that you know how to manage your lawn with your own kit, you’ll find that you can sit back and enjoy your lawn for the entire growing season.
Put Your Starter Kit Together with Brinly’s Lawn Care and Garden Attachments
You can find your Brinly starter kit online at your favorite big box store.
We have other lawn and garden products to help you with creating and maintaining a beautiful property throughout the year:
You can buy your next Brinly and garden products online. If you have any questions about your Brinly lawn and garden product, contact our customer service today by dialing 877-728-8224 or filling out our contact form.
Source:
TheSpruce.com, 8 Spring Tasks to Foster a Great Lawn.
