It’s that time of year to start thinking about waking up the grass covering your yard. With an early Spring just around the corner here in the Victoria area, there are steps to take to make sure your lawn is ready.

One of the common questions we get is “What should I do to my lawn in the Spring?”

The answer isn’t as complicated as you’d think. It really begins by raking and removing organic and non-organic debris. This will stir the blades of grass up. And also get rid of anything weighing down a delicate patch of grass. 

We also take this time to do proactive weeding. It’s a good practice to get rid of weeds early on before they wake up and really become a challenge.

Seeding is what follows. Winter can be tough on grass. By even doing a once-over with fresh seed each year is a great way to build the foundation of a lush ground cover of grass.

However, depending on the climate, and environmental conditions your lawn is subjected to, you may find post-winter bald patches throughout the yard. In these areas we’d recommend over-seeding the patch.

Your soil conditions are a main factor in growing a healthy lawn. Heavy snow or hard rain constantly pounding down on the surface of the soil can make it compacted. 

This doesn’t allow for good roots to grow. Without good roots, you can’t have a good lawn. Aeration will solve this problem. Aerating breaks up the compacted soil and lets oxygen permeate the ground below. 

If this isn’t a problem for you, then you can skip this step. Do consider having it done every few years as maintenance for the health of your lawn.

The next step in the process is fertilization. By providing nutrients to the ground cover, the soil is able to provide a healthy foundation for the growing of a lush, green lawn.

There is one consideration here that can be the make it or break it factor in your success. And that is timing. Fertilizing to soon is not a good thing, and doing it too late in the season is also not so good. 

Best thing to do would talk to your local and trusted garden and yard care store. They can advise you on what is the ideal solution for your location.

From this point, proper lawn care and maintenance kicks in. Mowing and watering are the final two considerations for us. A mowing schedule can be different for some yards because of factors like water and sun exposure. 

When it comes to properly mowing a lawn, the height of the cut you’re making is vital. Having a lawn mower at a very low level will take off too much of the top surface. 

And cutting too little off isn’t good either. It means more maintenance and traffic on the surface. 

Once the lawn has been mowed two or three times, and has had a chance to establish itself, then the rule of thumb is to keep the cutting of the grass down to about a third of the total length.