This weekend marks the beginning of daylight savings time, don’t forget to set your clock an hour forward Saturday night (March 10th) or Sunday morning. If you’re clock says 1am, set it to 2am etc. This is also a good time each year to check the batteries in your smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors, even if they are hard-wired you will typically find a battery back up. You will want these devices to be working even in a power outage.
The sunshine and warmer weather may have you thinking about getting out in the yard this weekend too. Here are some spring lawn tips to keep the lawn in tip-top shape:
The Ides of March (March 15) –
• This should be about the time of the first mowing of the year, an early spring feeding (fertilizer) will strengthen the roots.
• If your lawn had crabgrass last year, apply a product that also contains a pre-emergent.
• This is also the time to prune your roses.
When the Forsythia blossoms start dropping (Forsythia bushes have bright yellow blossoms in the spring) –
• Apply a weed preventer and water as soon as possible to activate it. Weed preventers or pre-emergent herbicides stop seeds from germinating so are not effective against weeds that have already begun to grow. Crabgrass is the primary target of pre-emergent herbicides for lawns, it normally germinates just after forsythia blooms.
• Aerating benefits all lawns by loosening soil and reducing thatch buildup, aerate when the soil is moist and grass is actively growing, Spring or Fall is best.
Mid-April
• Set the sprinkler timer once irrigation water is available and your system has been activated for the year. Watch your email and/or mailbox for more information in the coming weeks with the specifics of when we be starting up sprinkler systems.
Throughout the Spring & Summer
• Adjust the sprinkler timer as the weather warms going into summer and then again as it cools in the fall.
• Be alert to any water restrictions that may be put into effect by local authorities.
• While it may fit your routine to mow every weekend, when growth is vigorous your lawn may benefit from mowing every four or five days. Mow by the one-third rule rather than by the calendar. What’s the one-third rule? Mow often enough to avoid cutting more than one-third of the grass height, so if you set your mower to 2 inches, mow before the grass is longer than 3 inches so you are only cutting off one-third of the grass. Cutting off more than one-third per mowing can stress the lawn and make it less attractive.
