The start of the new year means a chance to plan and prepare for the year ahead. If you want to ensure another year of a beautiful lawn or perhaps want to try to avoid any mishaps, now is the time to plan your lawn care calendar. By defining your lawn care goals ahead of time, you can ensure that you have plenty of time to gather supplies and prepare for various lawn treatments. No matter the size of your landscape, these three lawn care tasks are worth planning for in the new year.
Create a Lawn Fertilization Schedule
Lawns need the correct levels of nutrients throughout the year to thrive and stay healthy. The best fertilizer mixture will be different depending on the grass type and time of year. Figuring out the right nutrient requirements and application time is essential to maintaining a healthy lawn.
You can take the start of the new year to create a schedule for your spring, summer, and fall fertilization. These fertilization treatments differ because every season has unique effects on your lawn. In spring, your lawn needs to “wake up,” in summer, your plants need to manage high temperatures, and in fall, the yard must repair and prepare for winter. Knowing the natural growth habits of the grass type in your lawn will help setting up the fertilization schedule.
Provide Consistent Weed Control
Weeds can drain your lawn of valuable resources. Quick-growing weeds compete with grass for space, sunlight, nutrients, and water, which causes incredible stress on your lawn. The result of overgrown weeds is a less healthy lawn that is more vulnerable to pests, diseases, and drought.
Those consequences are the primary reason why weed control is one of the essential lawn care goals. Eliminating this competition for your grass allows it to grow thick and beautiful. You can start with a preventative pre-emergent herbicide application in spring, which can prevent annual grassy weeds such as crabgrass from appearing at all.
After that, use post-emergent products to spot treat throughout the summer and early fall. You can then finish the year with broadleaf control in the fall, along with a potential pre-emergent to eliminate any weed seeds laid down at the end of the year.
Treat Your Lawn to Aeration
One of the lawn care goals that should not be overlooked is treating your lawn to core aeration. Core aeration pulls out small cores of compacted soil to break up excess thatch and relieve soil compaction.
Aeration is most beneficial in the fall but can be done in the very early spring as well. Loosening up the soil and breaking up thatch at the end of the growing season allows roots to grow deeper, strengthening the grass before winter. The roots then have easier access to nutrients, air, and water. Aeration helps revitalize your lawn after a year of heavy use.
If you’re ready to give your lawn the best care it deserves this year, set these lawn care goals today and start planning with Scientific Plant Service.
Scientific Plant Service Is Your Go-To Source In Landscape Healthcare
Scientific Plant Service, located in Baltimore, is a privately owned corporation, chartered in Maryland in 1957 by Frank J. Burke. We started as a full-service Arborists specializing in the care of shade trees and ornamental shrubs, but today we are a Lawn Care company that is a huge part of the community. From aquatic environments and snow management to deer and mole control, SPS has services tailored specifically for your lawn and landscape.
We offer services in Maryland, Washington, DC, and Virginia, including: Harford, Baltimore, Carroll, Frederick, Howard, Anne Arundel, Montgomery, Prince Georges, Talbot, Queen Anne’s, Calvert counties in MD, as well as Loudoun County, Fairfax County, Arlington, Alexandria, and Falls Church in VA. For more information, contact us online, or call us at 410-321-0970. Be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest.