Gardening Tips Articles | Garden Information Center

By: Jeremy

Lawn and Garden Care Tips

1.      Remove the debris – One of the best things that you can do to get your lawn in shape for the coming season is the remove any debris; such as branches and rocks that may have accumulated over the winter. Not only will this help give your grass room to grow, but it will also prevent safety hazards once mowing season begins.

2.      Do not over fertilize with nitrogen – Traditionally, many people would prepare their lawn with high amounts of nitrogen-based fertilizer in the spring.  Unfortunately, this often leads to a significant amount of damage to the grass.  If you are going to use nitrogen, be sure to wait until you have mowed at least a few times before you fertilize with nitrogen and wait until there will no longer be frost on the ground.

3.      Use controlled-release fertilizers – If you are going to use a fertilizer in the spring, then you are best to look for one that contains nutrients that are released slowly over time, rather than all at once.  You should also consider fertilizing over time, so that you help your grass to grow slowly rather than all at once.

4.      May 1st is a good date to start weeding out crabgrass – In most areas of the country, crabgrass does not start to root until around the middle of May.  Therefore, if you are going to apply an anti-crabgrass formula to your lawn it is a good idea to begin doing so around May 1st. Of course, this is not set in stone and if your climate is unusually warm or you notice crabgrass developing earlier, you can feel free to apply the formula earlier in the year.

5.      Seed your lawn in the fall, not in the spring – Although many people do prefer to seed their lawn in the spring, it is not as optimal as seeding in the fall.  Although it may seem that new grass would have a hard time surviving the winter, it is actually more at risk of damage from the high heat and sunlight of summer.  Therefore, consider seeding your lawn before winter this year!

6.      For best results, use a blended fertilizer – A high-quality fertilizer should contain a small amount of nitrogen that is non-water soluble, potash and phosphate.  The key to a balanced formula is knowing how much of each of the ingredients your lawn really needs.  There are also other minerals that are frequently added to fertilizers - some lawns require these and some do not.  Depending on your soil type, geographic location and climate, the fertilizer that you choose needs to contain the right amount of each nutrient. Check with your local gardening center to learn more.

7.      The darker your lawn color, the better – Do you realize that your goal should be to get your lawn to the darkest possible color?  With this goal in mind, you will have a way to determine how well your lawn and garden preparations are working.  Of course, it may take you several seasons to determine the correct approach, but in the end your efforts will be rewarded.

8.      Consider a mechanical seeder for best results – If you find yourself needing to seed or re-seed your lawn, it may be more work than you are anticipating.  Therefore, a mechanical seed spreader may be an investment worth making. Or, consider renting one from a local lawn care center.  There are also seed sprayers, however they are not recommended for inexperienced landscapers because of the precision that must be applied to achieve proper coverage.

9.      If you want fast results on your lawn this season, consider sodding – If you don’t know what sod is, you probably have seen it and don’t realize it!  Sod is simply instant grass.  You can purchase sod in squares or rolls, or you can hire a professional to create your lawn.  Sodding is best done in the late spring.

10.  Find out how short you should be cutting your grass – Before the mowing season begins, you should take care to find out what the best height is for your lawn. Most people who experience problems with their lawn burning are cutting it too short. And, those whose lawns get out of control between mowing may not be going low enough. A good rule to keep in mind is that you should never mow more than 1/3 of the visible grass when you are mowing in order to avoid damaging the blades.

11.  Prepare a watering schedule – Do you realize that when you water your lawn several times a day in short intervals, you may not be helping your grass to grow?  Studies have shown that the best watering technique is to water for an extended period of time at infrequent intervals. Much like nature waters your lawn with rainfall. For example, if you live in an area with clay soil you really need to water for about 5 hours at a time a few days a week.  Most people do not water this way, but for the best results this is what you should do.

12.  Don’t skip spring lawn and garden preparation – If for some reason you opt not to do preventative spring maintenance on your lawn and gardens, you will undoubtedly pay for it for the rest of the year!  While you may be able to take some shortcuts, be sure not to completely skip this important step.

13.  Never skip raking – It is just as important to rake your lawn in the spring as it is in the fall.  Thatch is what accumulates on your lawn during the winter to protect the roots from snow and freezing temperatures.  This thatch must be removed in order to keep your lawn healthy.  Pros will tell you that even a half of an inch of thatch accumulating can cause serious problems with your lawn.  So, don’t skip this important lawn care step!

14.  Raking can show signs of more serious problems – You should rake your lawn deeply every spring, because when you do you are not only removing dangerous build-up, but you are also freeing any tangled grass blades.  Additionally, if your lawn has been affected by snow mold or other problems over the winter, raking may eliminate the eventuality of bare patches.

15.  Aeration is important when traffic is high – If you have a high traffic lawn - or even just some spots that get a lot of foot traffic - you should aerate every spring to avoid a condition known as compaction.  If you see a significant amount of moss build up in your lawn, then this is a sign that your lawn could be in need of aeration.  You can get an aeration tool that is inexpensive at your local lawn and garden store.

16.  Keep an eye out for moss – If you see a significant build up of moss in and around your lawn and garden, this could indicate significant problems including a need for aeration or a need to combat high acid levels in the soil.  Both are simple procedures, which will not require a significant investment of time. However, it is important to address the problems as soon as possible to get your lawn healthy for the coming season.

17.  Watch for bare spots – If you see bare spots developing throughout your lawn as a result of your pets, or high traffic, you can do what is called overseeding. Basically, you will be placing seed in the bare spots to sprout new growth.  The best time to do this is late in the fall, when temperatures are mild and the sun is not as hot as in the spring and summer. 

18.  Use preemergent herbicides – The difference between conventional herbicides and preemergent herbicides is that while conventional herbicides kill weeds as they are located, preemergent herbicides treat your lawn to prevent the growth of weeds, crabgrass and other irritants from the time of their application. There is a specific window of time in which the herbicides are effective when applied, check with your local lawn care center to determine the best time for your specific region.

19.  Aerate first and then apply chemicals – If you intend to aerate your lawn or garden, do so prior to applying any chemicals, herbicides or fertilizers.  Otherwise, you will be wasting the chemicals.  Also, herbicides form a blanketing shield over the soil. Aeration will puncture this blanket, which may lead to problems.

20.  Be on the lookout for dandelions – Dandelions are probably the largest lawn pest known to man.  If you want to keep them from spreading once they begin to appear, snap off the head of the flower before it turns to seed.  Otherwise, you can expect to have a sea of yellow blanketing your lawn all summer long. You can treat dandelions upon emergence with a spot killer. Preemergent herbicides are generally ineffective against dandelions.

21.  Check out your mower – Spring is a good time to perform preventative maintenance on your mower, and to make sure that it is working in optimal condition. At the same time, you can take a few minutes to check your other landscaping tools to ensure that they are in good repair for the coming season.

22.  Develop a garden plan – One of the largest mistakes that you can make when it comes to landscaping the gardens around your home is not to plan in advance.  If you don’t plan properly, you could end up with overgrown plants that are too close together or underperforming plants that have been planted in the wrong area.  Take time in the early spring to plan and review what you will plant during the coming season.

23.  Take a look at garden irrigation – Insufficient irrigation can be a major problem for your garden.  If you are planting flowers that require a significant amount of water, you might want to opt for an in-ground irrigation system which is best installed before the planting season.  An added bonus is that this allows you to stop worrying about who will water your gardens when you are away!

24.  Keep an eye out for erosion – If you are starting to see obvious signs of erosion at any spot in your lawn or garden, one way that you can combat this is to plant ground covering plants, which will help to keep the soil in place and prevent further deterioration.

25.  Work with what you already have instead of making huge changes in your landscape – One of the mistakes that many people make when it comes to preparing their lawn and garden in the spring is that they try to force the soil and ground to behave differently than nature intended.  Find out what you can do to work with the consistency of your soil, the lay of your specific land and the amount of natural drainage that your lawn and gardens offer.  You will find landscaping a much less stressful under-taking when you work with what you have.

26.  Keep an eye on those predators – In case you haven’t already noticed, squirrels and other wild animals delight in the idea of eating your tulips and other plants. Luckily, there is an easy way to deter these predators.  Plant things that they don’t like around the perimeter of your lawn and garden. One particular flower that squirrels hate to eat is daffodils. If you have a problem with deer, plant ground covering ferns and ornamental grasses.

27.  Try mushroom manure – A mixture of sand and mushroom manure mixed into your garden soil will help to prepare your flowerbeds for planting.  Be sure to mix in some fresh topsoil as well, because new topsoil will help to cut down on the amount of salt in the ground.

28.  Turn over your ground as soon as possible – It’s important to prepare for your garden for planting as early as possible in the spring. Keep in mind though that your soil should be mostly dry when you turn it over.  Otherwise, if the ground is wet you may not be able to turn over a full 12 inches of dirt. Twelve inches is optimal whether you are using a spade or a garden hoe.

29.  Plan your vegetable garden in the early spring – If you are an avid vegetable gardener, then you already realize that you need to rotate where you plant crops each year in order to maximize growth.  Keeping a gardening journal is a good way to remember where you planted each item in previous years. Be sure to consult it when you are planning for this year and future years.

30.  Cover your garden with a tarp to kill early spring weeds – Covering your flowerbeds with heavy plastic or a tarp during early spring will help to kill off any weeds that are just beginning to grow and prevent future weed growth. When you uncover the flower eds you should wait approximately seven days before you turn over the ground.  Eventually, when you see the weeds beginning to sprout again – you should turn the ground over one more time prior to planting.

31.  Mulch around seedlings as soon as possible – When planting in the spring, watch for the first seedlings to appear and then mulch carefully around them to prevent the growth of weeds, which could cause damage to the new plants.  If you are planting vegetables then you might want to cover your ground with black landscaping cloth and cut holes in it to plant the vegetables.  This covering is a good idea for plants such as tomatoes, which like a lot of heat.

32.  Prepare your garden paths – If you have garden or lawn paths, you will want to cover them with a significant amount of mulch in the early spring in order to prevent weed growth.  You may need to re-mulch throughout the summer as well to keep them looking their best. A commonly used trick is to spread a thick layer of newspaper on the pathway, covering that layer with a heavy layer of mulch. The weeds will have a hard time penetrating the newspaper, keeping your pathway weed free!

33.  Consider avoiding chemical treatments for your lawn – During the past few decades, the use of chemical herbicides and fertilizers has gained a tremendous amount of popularity.  However, many lawn pros urge their customers to avoid using these chemicals because they can kill off earthworms and natural organisms that help to keep your lawn healthy.  And, they can also cause the top of the grass blades to grow so fast that the root system cannot support the growth.  Keep this in mind before you consider using chemicals on your lawn.

34.  Test the drainage of your lawn – Dig a hole about six inches deep and fill it with water.  The hole should be completely empty within eight hours. If in eight hours, there is still water in that hole you should have your soil tested because you most likely have a drainage problem. If you want to find out if you have the opposite problem, water your lawn and then dig a six inch hole in the watered area after 48 hours. If the hole is entirely dry after just 48 hours, then your lawn is draining too quickly. 

35.  Keep an eye on the color of your lawn and shrubs – If you notice that your green grass is less green than it should be, the cause may be a lack of magnesium.  Consider using a magnesium sulfate compound on your lawn to bring back the bright color of your grass.  Talk to your local lawn and garden store to find out how much magnesium sulfate you should add per square foot of grass.

36.  If your drainage is not optimal, don’t wait to fix the problem – If you determine that your lawn and garden are not draining optimally you may be in for significant problems.  Therefore, take the time to address the problem as soon as it is discovered. Otherwise, your soil may not contain the right amount of oxygen necessary for supporting your grass and plants.

37.  Check with the USDA – There are specific maps (known as USDA maps) which show a breakdown of the U.S. into USDA zones.  Each zone comes along with a recommended list of plants and grasses which will thrive in the particular climate and soil conditions of that geographic area.  If you plant flowers or vegetables that are not native to your specific region, you may be inviting garden pests and other problems that will require chemical treatment later.

38.  Monitor the light in your garden – In order to get optimal performance out of your gardens, it is important to make sure that you are planting in areas that have the right amount of light.  To determine how much sunlight your plants will get, simply watch for a few days and see how much direct sunlight each particular area is getting at different points during the day.  Make a note of this information and use it when selecting plants for your gardens.

39.  Become familiar with bloom times – If you are not familiar with the term “bloom times”, you should be!  In order to make sure that your garden stays beautiful throughout the year, choose plants with varying bloom times. This way, you will have flowers in your garden from early spring until late fall.

40.  Take care to deter birds in places where they could cause damage – You don’t want birds eating your corn or the fish in your ponds.  Therefore, you should be sure to take action to deter birds from being in areas where they are not welcome. Consider using a device that emits a shrill sound at a regular interval, adding small spikes to the top of garden fences or using a bitter fruit based spray on your tree trunks.  These simple techniques make it easy to keep birds from damaging your lawn and garden.

41.  Select your fertilizer carefully – Fertilizers often contain metals and other chemicals that can be poisonous to humans.  Therefore, you should avoid using fertilizers in your garden that might expose you to these harmful chemicals.

42.  Spring is a good time to trim – Spring is a good time to start trimming your garden for summer.  Keep in mind that some plants do go dormant over the winter, so just because a plant looks like its dead does not necessarily mean that it is.  Be careful not to over trim or to remove plants that are actually still alive.

43.  Look for leftover weeds – During your early spring walks around your lawn and garden, take some time to pull out any weeds still there from the fall. Remove them, roots and all, so that they do not begin to grow or to spread over the spring and summer seasons.

44.  Remove old mulch – Mulch is only effective for one year, therefore spring is a good time to remove old mulch. Don’t just cover it up or you will end up with too much. Too much mulch can lead to root decay and a host of other problems.  Two to four inches is the right amount for most gardens.

45.  Pay attention to overnight temperatures – Just because it’s starting to be warm through the day, does not necessarily mean that overnight temperatures are high enough to support healthy plant growth. Therefore, hold off on your spring planting until overnight temperatures are consistently above freezing.