Establishing an effective lawn care program schedule will result in a verdant lawn year-round. With this post, and our organic lawn management tips, you have all you need to ensure that your grass beats the summer heat. 

Your Seasonal Lawn Care Program Schedule

Spring

Expect to be busy throughout spring. You’ll need to: 

• Clear away any dirt or debris.
• Perform a soil test to see which minerals are lacking. You can either buy an inexpensive home testing kit or speak to a local nursery about tests. 
• Fertilize the soil as necessary just as it starts to grow most actively. This applies as well when growing young trees, keeping your lawn and trees looking their best. 
• Check your mower blades and perform routine maintenance on the motor. Sharpen the blades as necessary to ensure a clean cut. Also, check the spark plugs, filters, oil, and gas.
• Aerate the lawn. When anyone walks on the lawn, they compact the grass. Counter this by aerating the grass at least once annually. This entails removing small plugs of earth and leaving them on the surface to incorporate air back into the soil. 
• Dethatch to remove all but a thin layer of organic material. At most, you will require a half-inch layer of mulch to keep in moisture, smother weeds, and introduce new organic material. 
• Apply pre-emergent herbicide to kill off weed seeds after the soil warms to 58°F.

Summer  

Caring for your lawn when the temperatures soar is unpleasant. The rewards are, however, well worth the effort: 

• Adjust your mower so that the blades are higher than normal. By leaving the grass a little longer, you allow it to build a healthy root system. 
• Grubs are common summer pests, so dig over about a square foot of the upper layer. If there are ten grubs or less, you’re on the right track. If there are more, you’ll need to employ countermeasures. 
• Go on weed patrol. To give any new grass seed a chance to thrive, apply an herbicide wherever you see weeds. It’s better to use a targeted product that will only kill the weed and not the grass. 

Fall  

Early fall is still an active time, but things are starting to slow down, so keep the following in mind: 

• This is the ideal time to start building up the soil with fertilizer.
• Set the mower blades closer to the ground to prevent matting from falling leaves.
• Check your lawn for bare patches and seed those areas now. Cover with a thin layer of mulch so that the birds don’t snack on the seeds. Water it regularly so that the seeds germinate. 

Winter  

Winter is the month with the least amount of lawn work. Now’s the time to take a well-deserved break. To keep your grass in the best possible shape: 

• Leave the lawn alone and keep foot traffic to a minimum. In its dormant state, the grass is quite fragile and the soil compresses more easily. 
• Be careful about how you de-ice your pathways and gardens. Rock salt may work well for ice, but it won’t do your garden any favors. 
• Clean your tools and pack them away again until spring. 

Need Help with Your Lawn Care Program Schedule? 

Maintaining a luscious lawn can involve a fair amount of work. If you need assistance, or would rather do something else, give North Eastern Tree, Shrub & Lawn Care a call at (888) 439-8733.

Our competitively-priced lawn care services in Chappaqua, NY, will get your lawn into great shape.