Preparing your lawn for the spring in Pittsburgh will take some cleanup on your part. With the snow disappearing, you may notice that there is a lot of debris throughout your yard. There can be trash which has blown into your yard, dead leaves, broken branches, and sticks which all need to be disposed of. Follow these tips to ensure your lush is a lush green in the spring.
Cleaning up the lawn
After your yard is cleaned up, you will need to loosen up any thatch which has built up. Thatch is a combination of shoots and stems plus living and dead roots which are located between the soil and the grass. It forms because your turf is creating organic by-products and the microorganisms can’t break it down fast enough.
When you have thatch in your yard, you must loosen it up in the spring before you can do anything else to get your lawn prepared for spring. If the thatch isn’t heavy, then you can rake it up yourself without a lot of trouble. Removing a large amount of thatch from your lawn can be hard on it, so doing it in early spring gives your lawn more time to recover. A stiff yard rake should remove a light batch easily but if you’re having difficulty, you can use a power rake for easier removal.
If your thatch buildup is thick, then you may need to hire a professional lawn care service. A lawn care company will have a vertical lawn mower which is made to remove thatch. Removing thick thatch is backbreaking work and you may want to consider this alternative if your thatch is thick.
After removing the debris and the thatch, you’ll need to check the soil’s pH levels. The pH levels should be between five to seven, but it also depends on the type of grass you’re growing. If the pH level is too high you can use a broadcast spreader and add sulfate. Read the directions to make sure you don’t add too much or too little. After the adjustments, then water the lawn and retest your pH levels after 30 days.
Aerating your lawn is an also important step to keep your soil loose so the roots of the grass can absorb needed nutrients and water.
Weeding and feeding
Part of the preparing the lawn for spring ritual is weeding and feeding. One thing to remember is not to overdo with the weeding control. Late spring is the best time to do this, but you need to make sure that weeds are really an issue. If you use too many chemicals, you can stress the grass’s roots. This will subject your lawn to trying to survive in the intense heat of the summer with weak roots. You may want to think about pulling the broadleaf weeds or spot=spraying and then applying slow-release fertilizer if needed.
Early spring is also the best time to reseed or seed your lawn in Pittsburgh. Because the soil still may be cold, you may not see much growth at first until the soil warms up. Another alternative is to seed in the fall if you miss the spring seeding.
You also need to figure out which kind of variety of seed you’re going to be using in your yard. This will depend on what kind of sunlight you receive, which part of Pennsylvania you live in and how much maintenance you want to do. It will also depend on your lifestyle and what will work best for your yard. Make sure the grass you choose or use thrives in the greater Pittsburgh area.
Don’t forget to mow
Pay attention to your lawn mower. It’s important to keep the blades of your mower sharp so grass blades aren’t injured when cutting. Also, when cutting your grass, don’t scalp your grass, don’t cut off more than a third of the blade of grass off. New seedlings will be able to receive all necessary nutrients while not being over or underexposed. So when you mow cool-season grass types, they should be kept between 2-4 inches tall.
Having a beautiful lawn in Pittsburgh isn’t difficult if you plant the right grasses for your area, understanding and taking care of your lawn is all you need to do!
