Lawn Care Experts in Baton Rouge: Preparing Your Yard During the Last Weeks of Winter for Spring

Winter doesn’t seem to last very long or show its teeth very often in south Louisiana. However, this time of the year, lower temperatures, and changes in temperature and climate conditions all affect how your yard will not only react but perform when the weather changes in the spring. As the winter months wind down and as temperatures begin to warm, we approach the season of Mardi Gras, LSU baseball, and crawfish boils galore, there are some steps that you can take to make sure you have a lush, healthy, vibrant long all spring and summer. 

Keep Your Grass Clear and Uncovered

To prevent the lawn from becoming matted, overly submerged, and otherwise damaged, it is important to keep it clean and clear. This means keeping leaves raked, hoses, toys, and other items. If the grass stays matted down for a long period of time it can do more than damage the turf, it can either create a haven for pests or become a hot breeding ground for fungus as the temperature fluctuates. Your lawn needs to breathe and more importantly, dry out as too much moisture can quickly lead to a decline in numerous ways. Keeping the lawn clean and clear will help to air out and the soil and root systems to dry out between periods of rain.

Prepare to Aerate Your Lawn, Spring or Early Summer

Core aeration and spike-style aeration is an often-overlooked service that is highly beneficial to both the long-term and short-term health of your lawn. Aerating your lawn creates small, shallow holes that break up the existing soil and allow water, air, and nutrients to penetrate deeper into the surface of the soil for more direct root contact. With Core Aeration, 2-3 inch plugs are pulled out of the ground and distributed on top of the grass helping to allow the ground to fill in the holes naturally (usually after the first couple of rains) which aids in helping to break up the soil and keep it from getting to compacted. Do you have hard, almost concrete-like bare spots around older-growth trees? The main reason there is no grass is primarily due to soil compaction by way of the tree's root systems having utilized all the water out of the soil layer year after year. Aeration will help to break this layer up and allow grass a chance to succeed once again. We do advise that you not do this during periods of heavy rain as you will likely do more damage than good to the turf. Ideally, it should be done when conditions are favorably dry, and plugs can be cleanly pulled but the ground is not rock hard to where the tines cannot penetrate deeply.

Consider Over-Seeding Your Lawn

Spreading new seed over your existing lawn can help to prevent the thinning that occurs as grass becomes dormant and preserves its energy. This can also help prevent the need for additional costs with materials and time to resod areas to get that lush lawn. Seeding will also provide fresh growth and new, young grass for the new growing season. Some knowledge here is needed though as soil temperatures have to be warm enough to initiate seed germination, sowing methods need to be researched to insure each type of seed is “sowed” to the right depth, and which type of grass you can actually get seeds for. Grasses such as St. Augustine produce sterile seeds so it can only be grown from existing sod stocks. Bermuda grass, centipede grass, and carpet grass seed are the three top seeds that you can find readily available at your local nursery suppliers come spring. Make sure to do your research on timing to sow and methods (throw and roll vs till up area and harrow under) as well as when to seed so you ensure lasting success. Lastly, be patient as seeding and seeing the results can take months to notice, it's not a quick process.

Wake Up Your Grass by Fertilizing Once Spring is in Full Swing

After aeration, one must-do item is Fertilizing. With thousands of small holes throughout the yard, now is a great time to get fertilizer directly down to the root base where it can be utilized to its fullest without the threat of washing off during heavy rains.  If you’re doing this come spring, using a Weed & Feed style fertilizer is a great way to both add nutrients for spring flush and also a great way to help control unwanted weeds. A typical rule of thumb is to wait until at least 80% of your lawn has greened up before applying any type of fertilizer to ensure the grass has become active in its nutrient uptake and will utilize the fertilizer. We always want to ensure we are not putting out fertilizer that will just run off into the ecosystem and not be utilized so ensuring the grass is mostly greened up will ensure it all gets utilized correctly and efficiently.

Don’t Mow Your Grass Too Early

Sunshine, warm temp, and the early signs of new growth can make you want to pull the mower out of the garage. However, it’s important to wait until the grass starts to look almost shaggy or rough, ideally when it reaches at least 2.5” 3” in height or more (depending on grass type). Cutting these new blades of grass will prevent overgrowth and stimulate newer, healthier grass to continue to grow. At the same time, it is important to not cut the grass too short as doing so is a great way to cause permanent damage, especially if we get a late Artic blast which is common towards the end of March or early April. Over the course of the fall and winter, the grass should have been mowed lower to a point to help remove thatch and bring the overall thickness down in preparation for the new growing season. Now is the time to start working in the opposite direction with the mowing height, increasing monthly by ¼ inch until the desired height is attained.  Keep in mind, the Live Oak trees will start dropping their leaves in late February through March so try to resist the temptation to drop the deck lower to better mulch those leaves, should you have some Live Oaks nearby or in your yard.

Your lawn service company will be prepared to help your lawn make the transition to the new season and keep it healthy and thriving all year long. As the seasons begin to change you can trust the look and health of your lawn to Kyle's Lawn and Landscape Kyle’s has over a decade of residential and commercial experience in the Baton Rouge area and is here to take care of all of your mowing and landscaping needs.