Winter is finally over and that means it is time for Spring lawn preparation. Spring is an extremely important time to perform lawn maintenance. Following these 5 simple steps will not only make your lawn beautiful all season long, but also make your lawn maintenance more manageable.
5 Guidelines for Preparing Your Lawn for Spring 
- Spring Cleaning: We all know how important Spring cleaning is in our homes, and it is just as important to do spring cleaning in your yard. Once the soil is dry, clear away any remaining debris, such as twigs and leaves, and rake to break up the grass shoots.
- Aeration: The best time to aerate your lawn is during the growing season. Aeration is the process of perforating the soil with tiny holes to allow air, nutrients, and water to infiltrate the grass roots. The prime purpose of aerating is to alleviate soil compaction and promote new growth and root development. Failure to aerate your lawn sufficiently prevents your lawn from surviving in our hot Texas summers.
- Apply Fertilizer and Control Weeds: Early Spring is the best time to prevent weeds by using a pre-emergent weed control, and best used with a combination of fertilizer. This will both feed your grass and prevent crabgrass from germinating. It is crucial to apply the pre-emergent before soil temperatures reach warmer temperatures because crabgrass is extremely troublesome to eliminate.
- Wait to Seed: It is best to wait until Fall to seed your grass. After applying the pre-emergent weed control, the seeds will not be able to grow due to the weed killer preventing any type of seeds from germinating.
- Mow: It is extremely important to mow your grass as early and often as you can. A popular mistake made by homeowners is only mowing their lawns once a week in the Spring. It is best to mow about every 5 days to ensure that you aren’t stunting the roots from reproducing adequately.
Remember, it is also very important to start watering your lawn frequently as soon as grass begins to grow. Before it starts to grow, you can water less often, but you want to ensure that your lawn is receiving at least 1″ of water per week during peak growing season.
The secret to your lawn thriving all season long relies on the lawn care and maintenance you provide for it in the Spring. Getting an early start in the season will cause your lawn to build a resilience to the effects of the Summer weather.