As your lawn comes out of winter dormancy and begins to green up (and grow) quickly, you might be wondering what spring lawn care needs will arise. The steps that you take for your lawn now will help set it up for success throughout the growing season. It’s important that you’re taking care of important lawn care needs.

We’ve rounded up this spring lawn care checklist so that you can ensure all of your bases are covered.
Spring Lawn Maintenance Checklist

There’s a lot involved in producing and maintaining a lush lawn. Here are some of the most important tasks that you want to make sure are covered.

✔Springtime Weed Prevention

Crabgrass is easily one of the most hated weeds we face here in Alexandria, Arlington, and Springfield, VA. It’s an aggressive spreader that can quickly take over a lawn if not properly addressed. Fortunately, you can actually prevent a large majority of crabgrass from even growing with pre-emergent products.

Crabgrass preventer is a weed prevention product that works by forming a barrier near the surface of the lawn which will intercept germinating crabgrass seeds before they have the chance to grow. This will prevent the majority of crabgrass from growing in the first place assuming it was applied properly.

It’s important to know that there is an application window that must be met. Obviously, this product must be applied prior to germination. That’s why it’s important to make sure that weed prevention is high on your spring lawn care checklist.

✔Spring Weed Control

Of course, not all weeds can be prevented, and even with pre-emergent products, there will be some breakthroughs. That’s why it’s important that your spring lawn care checklist also includes a plan of action against actively growing weeds.

Here in Northern Virginia, we deal with quite a few common weeds. It’s important to know that different lawn weeds often require different methods of treatment. 

For instance, while some weeds may be effectively controlled by one or two applications of a professional weed control product, others may require repeated treatments. Still, other weeds may not be controlled well by any product and may require a different solution altogether. 

This is why your weed control plan needs to include a wide variety of weed control products and a plan of attack.

✔Lawn Fertilization

Lawn fertilizer helps to feed your grass plants with vital nutrients that are needed for the grass to grow and thrive. The key nutrients that a lawn needs are Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), and Potassium (K). Each of these nutrients has different benefits to help the lawn.

Lawn fertilization is particularly important in the spring as these nutrients are needed to help your lawn green up and grow thick and healthy. 

In fact, a lawn that is rich in nutrients will eventually also grow fewer weeds and begin to resist environmental problems.

In order to give your lawn the best possible start in the spring, make sure that you include fertilization on your spring lawn maintenance checklist.

✔Proper Mowing

Mowing is another essential part of spring lawn care in Northern Virginia. As your lawn begins to actively grow again, it will be time to mow.

Lawn mowing is one of those services that seems about as cut-and-dry as they come. However, there’s a lot more to it than homeowners tend to realize, and underestimating the importance of mowing can lead to problems.

Everything from the mowing height to the frequency of your mowing can have an impact on how your lawn performs. It’s important not to cut your grass shorter than 3 to 3.5 inches, to mow regularly, and to mow with sharp blades.

There have been times when we’ve been asked by a client why their neighbor’s lawn looks better than theirs when they’re on the same program. Many times the answer comes down to mowing habits. It has way more of an impact than most people ever realize.

✔Proper Watering

As you gear up for spring, you also want to make sure that a healthy watering schedule is part of your spring lawn care checklist. 

Proper watering is another key to your lawn’s success. 

Established lawns require around one to two inches of consistent water per week. Oftentimes, in the spring, Mother Nature will supply that. But if it’s not raining all week, you may need to step up your sprinkler watering game or have an irrigation system installed to make sure your lawn’s watering needs are met.

When you do water, try to emulate nature by providing a deep, soaking rain that gets deep into the soil so that it reaches the root zone of your turf. The best time of day to water is in the early morning because you provide ample time for the water to percolate down to the root zone where it’s needed without being lost to evaporation.

 This article has a lot of tips on how to water if you are looking for more advice.

✔Preventing Problems

Spring lawn care in Northern Virginia should also include problem prevention such as addressing common disease and insect concerns. You might be taking all the right steps on this spring lawn care checklist and still end up dealing with a pest or disease problem that harms your lawn.

 Fortunately, if you are working with a lawn care professional, they will be keeping an eye on your property and addressing problems that do arise. 
 
In addition, there are some preventative steps that you can take to avoid dealing with a problem. Lawn grub control is recommended to help ensure your lawn is not decimated by these pests. Grubs work quickly (and beneath the surface of your lawn) so they can go unnoticed but cause a lot of harm.

✔Hire Lawn Care Services in Alexandria, Arlington, & Springfield, VA

Finally, if you aren’t already working with a lawn care professional, you might want to make hiring a lawn care pro part of your spring lawn care checklist. 

The truth is, lawn care can be complex and you probably don’t want to handle it all on your own. When you hire lawn care services in Alexandria, Arlington, and Springfield, VA you can hand over your lawn care woes to a pro who will know exactly what your lawn needs and when it needs it.

The key is to be selective about who you hire. There are a lot of companies offering lawn care services but if you’re serious about getting the best results (and a great overall experience), you need to choose wisely.
 
When you choose the best lawn care service for your needs, you’ll finally start seeing the lawn care results that you desire without a lot of hassles and headaches to deal with on your end. By performing some due diligence on the front end, you can feel confident that you’re making a wise choice and will be happy with your decision.

 If you want to be able to feel confident your lawn is getting everything that it needs from a lawn care company in Alexandria, Arlington, and Springfield, VA, request your quote, choose from 3 lawn care program options, and relax as you get the royal treatment.