- Your spring lawn checklist should include a review of your upcoming turf contract this winter or spring to take advantage of any preseason savings and to insure the work will be scheduled on a timely basis. Lawn care companies are expecting an unprecedented high volume of work due to the heat, drought, and insect damage.
- Check for grubs or other past insect damage (treat accordingly).
- Schedule any renovation work early, as the demand will quickly find quality companies becoming booked with spring work, leaving you with limited choices or having to wait until fall.
- Schedule your spring core aeration if you skipped it in the past.
- Schedule your spring lime and crabgrass inhibitor to get your lawn off to a good start.
- Watch for ticks in April and May as the adults emerge looking for a meal!
- Wait until the ground warms sufficiently before attempting any seeding. April seeding generally does not perform well due to cold soil temperatures, even in southern NH.
- Remove any debris which may have covered your lawn and cause harm such as branches, piles of leaves, plowed up sod, or gravel along the driveway.
- Mow your lawn to 1.5 to 2” to help speed up soil warming in the spring. . If the cut is good, just give your lawn a good raking an early spring weekend.
- Do not dethatch or “power rake” your lawn unless it has a severe thatch issue. This process causes more issues than it solves by tearing up healthy plants, dormant leaves and discourages a healthy recovery after winter. Snow mold or winter damage will be magnified with power dethatching. Save this process for the fall if you really need to see that huge pile of dethatched grass.