21 April 2012

Once the Spring Has Gone (from your grass that is...)




Now's the time of  year, here in our corner of the world (the prairies), that you begin to see spring clean up crews all over the city. Raking, de-thatching, aerating and fertilizing are all jobs that should be addressed early spring.

If your lawn is no longer springy or spongy underfoot (no footprints), you may rake it.  Raking with a fan rake will remove debris while raking with a "thatch" rake will remove the dead and dry grass otherwise known as thatch.  This may be done by hand with a rake every spring or every three years with a power rake.

Now is a good time to aerate as well.  Aerating and detaching may be done in the fall, but is equally, if not more, effective in the spring.  Aerating pulls up small plugs of soil, creating holes which will allow absorption of water and fertilizer to the roots of your lawn.  This is especially beneficial on lawns five years and older and may be done every spring.  Leave the plugs on the lawn to slowly disintegrate back into the lawn.

A slow release fertilizer should be applied now.  Select a fertilizer with a high middle number, which is phosphorus, which encourages strong root development and growth.  Something like a 10-20-5 would be ideal.  Use a broadcast spreader and apply evenly all over the lawn.

You may also want to consider overseeding your lawn this spring but do not do so within six weeks of using a herbicide for weeds as this will inhibit growth of your grass seeds as well.  Psst:  Take a little hint from me:  If your neighbourhood has an active community of crows and seagulls, avoid using corn gluten as a weed seed inhibitor.  These birds love to eat it!!!  No kidding!  My weeds flourished and so did the crows and seagulls!!!






5 comments:

Sheila said...

Good information today - if only we could be raking this - hopefully we'll be enjoying the sunshine before too long!

Anonymous said...

Ηеy Τhere. I found your blоg using mѕn.
Τhіs iѕ an extrеmely well ωгitten article.
I ωіll be surе to bookmark it anԁ гeturn tо геad more
οf your uѕeful informatіon. Thankѕ fοr thе poѕt.
І’ll definitelу геturn.
Review my web-site - rasendüNger unkraut

Anonymous said...

Awesome website you have here but I was curious if you knew
of any community forums that cover the same topics talked about here?
I'd really like to be a part of group where I can get advice from other knowledgeable individuals that share the same interest. If you have any recommendations, please let me know. Bless you!

Here is my weblog :: christian louboutin

Anonymous said...

Hey I am so grateful I found your blog page, I really found you by accident, while I
was searching on Aol for something else, Regardless I am here now and would just like
to say kudos for a remarkable post and a all round entertaining blog (I also love the theme/design), I don't have time to go through it all at the minute but I have bookmarked it and also included your RSS feeds, so when I have time I will be back to read a lot more, Please do keep up the excellent job.

my page michael kors

Anonymous said...

We stumbled over here different web page and thought I might check things out.
I like what I see so i am just following you. Look forward to exploring your web page repeatedly.


Also visit my page ... オークリー

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...