Spring will be here before we know it. It’s never too early to consider what you’ll need to give your turfgrass what it needs to succeed. We’d recommend the following treatments.
Everything To Include In Your Spring Lawn Maintenance Routine
To ensure your turfgrass thrives in the upcoming spring, it’s crucial to implement a comprehensive lawn maintenance routine, including core aeration. Core aeration helps alleviate soil compaction and thatch build-up, promoting healthy root growth and nutrient absorption essential for lush, vibrant grass. Trusting professionals like Alpine Tree and Lawn Care ensures efficient and effective aeration, saving you time and hassle while ensuring optimal results for your lawn’s health and longevity.
Have Core Aeration Performed
Freezing temperatures, snowfall, and thatch build-up can all leave your soil compacted, and your turfgrass smothered at the end of the winter season. Consider having your lawn aerated to alleviate soil compaction and excess thatch.
What Is Lawn Aeration
Also known as core aeration or traditional aeration, this process is ideally performed every spring and fall because it kills two birds with one stone. Firstly, it breaks up thatch build-up. Thatch is any dead organic material in your lawn. Most often, it’s made of dead grass clippings, but it could also come from small twigs, flower petals, or dead leaves. Having a little thatch in your lawn is ideal. It suppresses weed growth because weeds need lots of direct sunlight to germinate. But if there’s thatch in the way, that doesn’t happen as readily. Thatch also helps trap moisture in the earth – something your grass desperately needs during the hottest part of summer and the driest part of winter. Unfortunately, too much thatch can hurt your turfgrass. When the thatch layer is too thick, it will smother weeds and the grass itself. Further, it can trap too much moisture in your soil, leading to problems like pest infestations and lawn diseases.
The other problem that aeration addresses is soil compaction. Thatch build-up contributes to soil compaction, but there are other factors. Soil becomes hard and compacted over time due to foot traffic, leaving heavy objects on the lawn, and neglecting to remove thatch every year. All lawns become compacted over time, but the speed at which this happens depends on those factors. When soil is compacted, air, water, light, and fertilizer can’t reach the root zone of the grass easily. So the grass will starve and die off.
So now does aeration help? Using a specialized tool called an aerator, your lawn care technician will punch thousands of tiny holes across the surface of your lawn. The tines of the aerator will then remove minuscule plugs of soil. All those holes break up the compacted soil so air, water, and nutrients can flow freely through the ground again. And when the soil is loosened, the grassroots will once again be able to move and expand freely. The stronger your turf’s root system, the more robust your grass will be. Aeration also helps break up overly-thick thatch.
Why You Should Leave Lawn Aeration To The Professionals
Most people don’t own an aerator, which means you need to rent one, haul it to your home, and then you get to experience how challenging it can be to push the aerator around your yard. Or you could leave it to Alpine Tree and Lawn Care. We’ll save you the time, money, and hassle of trying to do it yourself. Plus, because our team is trained in all things lawn care, we can offer our advice and opinion on your yard. For example, a technician may spot the early signs of lawn disease. They could then help you treat it before it becomes a larger problem.
The Importance Of Fertilizing Your Turfgrass
Having lawn fertilizer distributed in your yard is like taking pre-workout supplements before hitting the gym. You’ll ensure your grass has all the minerals it needs to hit the ground running. Ideally, you want a fertilizer that is slightly higher in nitrogen to help with that early green-up but be careful because too much nitrogen can swing things the other way and burn the grass. Instead, opt for granular slow-release fertilizer. This will dissolve over time, so your soil maintains a steady stream of nutrients. Slow-release fertilizers won’t wash out of the ground as easily as quick-release fertilizers, either. Many people use quick-release fertilizers, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Still, if we get lots of rain this spring, the quick-release fertilizer will probably get flushed out of the soil – which means you’ll need to reapply—reapplying fertilizer costs additional time and money.
Why You Should Leave Fertilizing To Us
Our team will help you determine what kind of fertilizer is best for your yard and the ratio of nutrients. Over time, our techs will get to know your yard like the back of our hand, and they’ll spot any changes in its health and adjust the fertilizer dosage accordingly. We’ve got over 25 years of expertise – why not put it to work for you?
Zap Weeds Early
Like everything related to lawn and tree care, preventing problems is far easier, cheaper, and time-saving than dealing with them later on. You can save yourself from looking at eyesore weeds by treating them in early spring. Our pre-emergent weed control is engineered to take out weeds before they ever have a chance to germinate. Later on in the year, if any weeds do manage to slip through the defenses, we can spot treat for them. Post-emergent weed control products are designed so that they only kill unwanted vegetation like weeds and crabgrass – not your grass, flowers, or shrubs.
Why You Should Leave Weed Control To Us
We know what products are the most effective against specific species of weeds. Contrary to popular belief, weed control is not a one-size-fits-all solution. Some weeds respond better – i.e., die off faster – when treated with certain weed control products over others. Some, like wild violets, even have a natural resistance to certain herbicides. Instead of trying to research and navigate a weed control strategy on your own, you can leave it to us! We’ll save you time and effort.
Give Your Lawn A Running Start This Spring – Call Alpine Tree and Lawn Care
For over 25 years, the experts at Alpine Tree and Lawn Care have helped thousands of homeowners achieve the lawn of their dreams. Our lawn care services include everything your turfgrass needs, from weed control to fertilization. Let’s put our expertise to work for you! Give us a call at (586) 884-7799, or you can reach us through our online form here.
Would you like to learn more about caring for your lawn and garden? Check out our blog page! We post monthly articles on how to keep your yard looking its best. And don’t forget to like us on Facebook!