How to Prepare Your Lawn for Spring Seeding

As winter thaw leaves your lawn exposed, it’s time to evaluate how you need to prepare your lawn for spring. Each lawn is different and spring lawn care and schedules will vary based on the damage to your lawn, soil quality and climate. Before beginning any spring lawn care, wait for your yard to dry. Soft, wet soil is particularly susceptible to damage and anything you would do to the lawn before it dries could simply make things worse. Follow these tips on preparing your lawn for spring seeding.

Clean up debris from your yard and put your lawn mower to work
After winter, your lawn is probably covered in wet leaves, branches and twigs, and the grass may be matted or thatched. Rake and collect the debris to mix it in to your compost pile. (Raking also helps break up thatch to allow air to penetrate the lawn.) Then, it’s time to power up your lawn mower for the first cut of the season. Mow the lawn down to about two inches in height, collecting clippings in a bagger attachment as you go (you can add them to your compost as well). This will give you the best vantage point to evaluate troubled spots in your lawn.

Evaluate and correct issues with your lawn
Do you have bare spots, problem weeds, pests, discoloration? Soil quality can often affect all these issues so start with a soil test to determine whether you should spread lime or fertilizer over your lawn. Generally it will be one or the other, but if you do need use both, don’t add fertilizer until three weeks after the lime is spread as the two will interact and cancel each other out. This will help create a healthier lawn that resists discoloration, pests and even weeds!

Then, to prepare the lawn for seeding, rake or till bare spots to loosen the soil, aerate the lawn, and reseed. Aerating helps water, air and nutrients reach the soil more quickly, promoting new lawn growth. Even if you don’t have bare spots, aerating and overseeding with a different type of grass can provide strength and diversity to your lawn.

If you have both weeds and bare spots, and you’re preparing your lawn for seeding you’ll need to postpone using herbicide until the summer months. You can’t use herbicide and grass seed at the same time as the herbicide will kill the new seeds and roots alongside the weeds. So wait about 12 weeks after seeding, or choose to reseed in the fall if you plan to use herbicides in the spring. You can also use a string trimmer to manage weeds manually as you reseed the lawn. 

Spring lawn care tips for watering and mowing your lawn
After you’ve reseeded or overseeded your lawn, water it thoroughly for a deep saturation. Watering in the spring and summer should be done deeply, but only when truly needed. Then, wait about two weeks before mowing, and when you mow, make sure your lawn tractor or mower blades are sharp. Sharp blades will foster strong regrowth, and mowing to the proper height (about two inches) will encourage deeper roots.