Spring Lawn Care Tips: How to Keep and Maintain a Healthy Lawn

Spring is starting to spread across Canada. And while some places are still a little more snow-covered then they’d like to be, it’s time to start thinking of outdoor maintenance. 

Maintaining your home doesn’t simply mean making sure you have a solid, undamaged roof over your head (though that’s important), it also includes maintaining a healthy, beautiful lawn. That starts in the spring time. 

If you’re ready to step up your spring lawn care game, we’ve got some great tips that can help you out. 

Why does spring lawn maintenance matter?

Most Canadian homeowners can’t maintain their lawn year-round, simply because the grass spends a significant amount of time underneath a layer of snow. But since you can’t maintain your lawn year-round, it’s important to start rejuvenating it as soon as you can.

Picking up the baton in spring and carrying it all the way until late fall (as late as you can go, that is) can help ensure you maintain a healthy lawn. As soon as the warm weather starts to slide in and the snow melts, you’ll want to start on a few easy-but-important lawn maintenance practices, including:

  • Aerating soil
  • Deeply raking the soil
  • Adding extra grass seed (or overseeding)
  • Servicing the lawn mower (you want it ready for when it’s time to use it)
  • Watering frequently (but not over-watering)
  • Eliminating weeds
  • Adding lawn fertilizer (every 8 weeks or so works well)

Lawn care tips for spring maintenance

Starting with spring maintenance as soon as you can is one of the best lawn care practices out there. But there are a few specific lawn care tips you can keep in mind, including:

1. Keep the grass longer

Keeping your grass longer helps promote growth, prevent weeds, and discourage insects from being pests around the yard.

Now no one wants you to be the pariah of the cul de sac. When we say “longer grass” we’re not talking about cultivating a forest, a simple 6 to 8 centimetres will fit the bill.

However, it is worth noting that you’ll want to be up on your local regulations to make sure you don’t go over. This shouldn’t be a big issue, most cities have larger thresholds, like Calgary with 6 inches and Toronto with 8.

2. Water it deeply

What does “watering deeply” mean? You want to apply around 2.5 centimetres of water, which will allow it to get into the grass roots.

Any easy trick for this is to place an empty tuna or pet food on the ground while you’re watering. This will help you figure out how much water you’ve applied to the lawn. When the can is full, it’s time to stop watering.

While you want to water your lawn thoroughly, you don’t want to add too much water. Too much doesn’t allow your soil to get the oxygen it needs. In turn, this invites disease and promotes a decidedly unhealthy lawn.

3. Cover it in compost

Just like you, your lawn needs food! Compost is a great source of nutrients to promote healthy grass. It can start with something as simple as leaving your grass clippings on top after you cut it.

Sprinkling organic matter (compost) on your lawn can help promote proper drainage. It also has microorganisms that provide nutrients. Both of which help promote healthy lawn growth. How can you get your hands on compost? We show you how to do it at home in this article.

4. Aerate compacted soil (especially in the early spring and late fall)

Your lawn can get quite compact, especially after a season of heavy snowfall. Aerating compact soil is simply adding air into the soil, which you can do by essentially poking holes in the soil.

Aerating your lawn in the spring is important because it allows water, air and nutrients to reach the actual roots of the plant. Ultimately, this helps promote growth.

5. Seed a lot

It’s much better to overseed instead of underseed the lawn. You can do this even if you already have a full lawn for the season.

Adding extra seed over thinning areas, or finding ground covers for tougher lawn spots can help it withstand disease, drought, shady conditions, insects and heavy traffic.

6. Reduce the amount of grass in the yard

Lawns are great, but having less lawn can be more environmentally friendly and easier to care for. This doesn’t mean that you can’t have grass at all. Simply replacing the grass in areas of heavy traffic with paving stones or mulch can make a big difference. 

Keeping an eye on your lawn

One of the biggest factors when it comes to maintaining a great lawn is to keep an eye on it. You want to check on your lawn often to ensure you catch issues as soon as they arise.

What issues are you looking out for? Pests are a particularly nasty problem that can quickly damage or kill your lawn. But other lawn problems include:

  • Excessive weeds
  • Uneven growth
  • Brown or yellow patches
  • Bald or bare patches
  • Moss
  • Uneven growth

Maintaining a healthy lawn is a great way to both keep your house looking sharp, and the environment around you safe and protected. And the best maintenance plan starts as early as you’re able!

Looking to add regular lawn maintenance and other healthy home tasks into your life? Download the GarbageDay app and stay ahead of the crowd. There’s no need to keep up with the Joneses if you are them!

Download the GarbageDay app today!​

There’s more to caring for your home than taking out the trash. We give you seasonal reminders about things like when to change your air filter, check and seal your driveway, turn off your hoses, and anything else that needs adjusting through the seasons. We even give you step-by-step instructions on how to get these things done.

This article offers general information only and is not intended as legal, financial or other professional advice. A professional advisor should be consulted regarding your specific situation. While the information presented is believed to be factual and current, its accuracy is not guaranteed and it should not be regarded as a complete analysis of the subjects discussed. All expressions of opinion reflect the judgment of the author(s) as of the date of publication and are subject to change. No endorsement of any third parties or their advice, opinions, information, products or services is expressly given or implied by RBC Ventures Inc. or its affiliates.

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