What You Need To Know About Lawn Renovation

This spring, you may be thinking, “How can I have the greenest grass in the neighborhood?” Lawn renovation can help! After the winter, your yard may be craving some additional attention, and renovating your lawn is a great place to start.

Lawn renovation can be done in three steps: thatching, aerating and fertilizing. By following these steps, your yard will have a great start for spring and a successful summer as the green grass of envy for your neighborhood.

Thatching

Thatch is the layer of dead roots, decomposing grass and other debris that can build up over time on your lawn. As you mow, if you don’t remove the clippings, it can remain in your yard and build up to become thatch. It can decrease the amount of sunlight and water reaching the roots and even the grass blades, which is necessary for proper growth. By thatching, you can remove excess of this layer of debris and allow water, sunlight and nutrients to penetrate the soil and reach the root zone of your grass.

Removing the layer of thatch has also been shown to reduce disease and infestations, as doing so allows for fewer hiding places for pests like fungi, insects and diseases to hide.

How? You can use a thatch rake to remove excess thatch, allowing your grass the opportunity to thrive.

Aerating

Aerating your soil allows everything needed to sustain the life of your grass to reach the roots. Aerating, or poking holes into the soil, gets the air, water and nutrients from fertilizer down to the root zone. From there, it can be taken up into the plants, where it can be used as needed for growth.

How? Use a plug or spike aerator on your lawn to create the needed space. (A plug aerator removes the plugs of soil; a spike aerator just pokes holes.)

Fertilizing

Fertilizers can give your grass the nutrients it needs to survive, and thrive. Fertilizer is made of three primary ingredients (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium), and other ingredients are sometimes included as well. Each ingredient has a specific purpose:

• Nitrogen: helps your grass grow upwards
• Phosphorus: helps deepen the grass roots’ growth
• Potassium: helps with the color and overall health of your grass

When selecting a fertilizer, you have many options. There are granular and water soluble options, and even some that are a slow-release formula. There are typically three numbers on the fertilizer label, which each relate to the amount of each chemical ingredient in the fertilizer.

How? Fertilize once the soil temperature reaches 55 degrees. Follow the label’s application recommendations for best results.

Once following these steps, water and mow as recommended by a lawn care professional to see success this spring!

If you need help renovating your lawn this spring, Hart and Sons Landscape is here to assist! Get the green lawn that is the envy of your neighbors by contacting the lawn care pros for help!