StandAlone

With warm weather on the way, it’s time to start thinking about your lawn and yard. If you don’t have a game plan for keeping your lawn looking it’s best, and getting it ready for summer, here are some tips and reminders.

Tips For A Healthy Lawn This Spring

1. Use a dethatching rake, or rake fairly hard with a spring rake, to dethatch your lawn. Removing the layer of thatch (dead stems & roots between grass and soil) that has built up since last spring will allow your lawn to grow better. This is also a good time to check your lawn for larger branches, rocks or anything else you don’t want to mow over.
2. Since a lot of the soil around Oregon City can be hard and clay-like, aerating your yard at least once a year can be beneficial. Aerating helps water, air and nutrients get to the grass roots, leading to a healthier lawn. Spring is a great time to aerate compact soil, because it will help encourage the grass to take off and grow.
3. Although fall is the best time to seed a lawn, spring is a great time overseed your lawn or re-seed bare patches. If you’re trying to get grass to grow in a bare patch, loosen the soil first, then mix seed with topsoil or fertilizer before packing soil back down. If your entire lawn is on the thin side, and you’re about to re-seed (and you’ve already dethatched), the first thing you’ll want to do is mow your lawn a little lower than usual. Getting it at or below 2 inches will allow the new seeds to get light and really take off. Be sure to do this early in the spring, so the grass has a chance to grow and establish before summer.
4. Mow your lawn once the grass is around 3″ – 3.5″ tall, but don’t cut it below 2″. Keeping your grass in the 2″ – 2.5″ height range will build a good turf, and it will help limit weeds by blocking them from getting light. As a general rule, you shouldn’t cut more than 1/3 of the grass down at any one time. So raise that mower up, and mow more often for a thicker, greener lawn this spring.
5. Wondering if you should fertilize? Each lawn is different, but using the correct fertilizer at the right time can really help your lawn take off in the spring. Regardless of what you’re using, wait to apply fertilizer until after your first spring cutting. When you do fertilize, lean towards a more conservative application. Adding more than the recommended amount thinking it will work better and faster usually backfires and can damage your lawn.

 

Starting off with a healthy, well-managed lawn in the spring will help keep your lawn looking great throughout the year. It will also make maintaining and watering your lawn in the summer easier. If at any point caring for your lawn and yard becomes more trouble than it’s worth, feel free to request an estimate for regularly scheduled lawn and yard services from StandAlone Lawn Care.

Don’t Forget About Your Mower

It can put you in a tight spot if you wait until you absolutely need to mow, and then find out that your mower won’t fire up after sitting all winter. Start it up and give it a little attention ahead of time to make sure it won’t fail when you’re ready to start using it this spring.

1. If your mower won’t start after sitting all winter, and you didn’t add fuel stabilizer to the gas, try draining the tank and adding fresh gas. Old gas is a common reason for mowers to not fire right up in the spring. Moister and age can cause the gas to not work optimally, and gunk and debris that have been sitting in the tank, lines and carburetor can block fuel enough to keep it from starting and running.
2. Sharpen your blade to get the cleanest cut possible. Sharp blades cut even, mulch better (without bag), bag better, and save time by getting the job done right the first time. If you can’t sharpen your blade yourself, most local shops around Oregon City will do it…for a fee. Just be sure to schedule your sharpening soon, before the spring rush.
3. Check/change your oil. Making sure your oil is clean and the level is in the recommended range will keep your mower healthy and happy. Follow the recommended maintenance schedule for your specific engine, but as a general rule, it’s better to change the oil more often with a new mower.
4. Additional parts you will want to check on a mower that’s been sitting for a while, are the spark plug and air filter. Spark plugs are cheap to replace, but even simply brushing a dirty plug can give you a little extra spark sometimes. And if your mower won’t start, one thing you can do is try removing the air filter and seeing if it will fire up without it. Some air filters clog easy or expand after coming into contact with moisture, causing enough of an air restriction to not let it run. If it doesn’t run with the air filter on, but does without, an new one may be in order.

 

 

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