Getting Your Landscaping Ready for Spring

Your grass is greening up, flowers are beginning to bloom, and birds are chirping away. That means it’s time for you to do some important things to get your landscaping in good shape for Spring! Here are some tasks to help you achieve the best looking yard around.

Aerate

The healthiest grass out there is that which is allowed to grow high, enabling its root system to thrive and deepen. A strong root system breaks up the soil and promotes drainage, in turn creating healthier grass. Since most of us keep our grass mowed to a shorter height, the roots are not able to do as good of a job as needed for ideal grass. That means we have to help our grass achieve its best condition, and aeration is often a great solution. Aerating your grass promotes air circulation, improves distribution of nutrients and moisture, loosens compacted soil so that roots can better grow, breaks down thatch buildup, and aids oxygen in reaching the roots. How do you know if your yard will benefit from aeration?

• Your lawn is getting too thin and there aren't any obvious causes like watering changes or too much shade.
• You see more water runoff than normal, and it’s not due to too much rain or over-watering. Soil that is too compact doesn't absorb water well.
• Fertilizer doesn't noticeably help your lawn. This likely means that the fertilizer’s nutrients can’t reach the roots of your grass. If you aerate your soil, wait about two weeks and then apply fertilizer for the best results.

Fertilize

Mid-spring is the ideal time to apply weed and feed fertilizer to your lawn. If you fertilize too early in the season, you may get rid of a few weeds but you won’t achieve greener grass. You might even promote lawn diseases like Brown Patch if you don’t fertilize at the right time of the year.

Trim

Spring is a great time to trim some of your trees and shrubs. Crape myrtles, ornamental grasses, and roses will especially benefit from trimming this time of year.

• Crape myrtles are very popular in southern landscapes. They should be pruned in the late winter or early Spring to eliminate dead or weak branches and sucker growth.
• Roses should be trimmed regularly to reduce disease or pest damage, and to promote new growth. Spring is a great time to focus on your roses.
• Ornamental grasses should be trimmed to allow new growth to emerge from damaged foliage. This will give you a nice batch of new growth in the Spring.

Mulch

One of the greatest things you can do to improve the appearance of your landscaping is to add a new layer of mulch in your beds and around your trees. It protects plant roots from extreme temperatures (which will be hitting this area before we know it!), discourages weed growth, and conserves moisture in the soil. You can choose the type of mulch you like best for your landscaping, as there are several types and colors available.

Contact C4 Landscaping for help in sprucing up your lawn this Spring. Time is of the essence in getting your landscaping looking beautiful for the rest of the year!