Spring Lawn Care Tips for Syracuse, NY
Syracuse is still very cold during the spring. With the cold weather and long frost season, many grasses struggle to survive year round. However, if you start your lawn care early in the year and take advantage of the growing period for cold-season grasses, your lawn will be greener, healthier, and stronger. Simply follow these spring lawn care tips and your lawn will be in good shape.
Mowing
Syracuse mostly features lawns consisting of cool-season grasses. This means your turf will reach its maximum growth rate during the spring and fall. It’s important during this period to mow your lawn once every 4 to 7 days. This allows you to cut small portions of your grass off and allow the clippings to become natural fertilizer for your lawn. Just be sure to never remove more than a third of your grass height at a time, or you’ll weaken your lawn.
It is also important to check the sharpness of your lawn mower blades. Dull blades bruise instead of cut grass, which will make your lawn more vulnerable to diseases. Your lawn mower blades should be sharpened at least once a year.
Fertilizing
For cool-season grasses, applying fertilizer during the spring can help kickstart your lawn’s growth as the weather warms. After the last frost in mid- April, apply fertilizer in early May. This allows your turf to grow resilient against the hot, summer months. Use a nitrogen-only fertilizer and apply about 1 pound of the fertilizer per 1000 square feet. Don’t fertilize after a recent rain and wait a day or two. If you fertilize soaked grass, there may be harmful runoff as a result.
Watering
As the winter ends, water your lawn properly in order to avoid pests, weeds and diseases from growing into your lawn. First, water as infrequently and deeply as possible. By watering infrequently, grass roots will have time to grow deep and strong, building their resistance to diseases and pests. The early morning is the best time, so the sun doesn’t evaporate the water. water as early in the morning as you can.
To test if your lawn needs more water, press a screwdriver into your soil. If the top 2 inches of your soil are completely dry, then you need to water more. If the soil is still moist, then your lawn is hydrated.
Aerating
Aerating your lawn can be one of the most important lawn care practices for lawns with frequent foot traffic. Soil becomes compact when a lot of people step on grass, preventing nutrients from reaching the roots as easily and hurting overall growth. Simple aeration can help solve this.
It’s important that you use an aerator and not shoe spikes to aerate your lawn. This piece of heavy machinery is a bit dangerous to use, so you might want to consider hiring a lawn service to perform the aeration. The average cost of aeration in Syracuse is around $150.
Need help with lawn care? Visit our Syracuse lawn care page to get in touch with a professional! In addition to Syracuse, we provide lawn care services to other New York cities including Rochester, Albany, and Buffalo.
Featured image source: Zillow Syracuse