In Minnesota, our lawns tend to spend close to half the year covered in snow. This is why many homeowners take special pride in keeping their lawn looking pristine from when the ground thaws in late spring through when it freezes again in late fall. Keeping a neat, green and healthy lawn shows your neighbors that you take pride in the appearance of your property and increases the curb appeal of your home.
If you want to make your lawn in Minnesota look its best this year, there are some basic maintenance practices that you should follow. Here are a few important lawn care tips that will make your grass the greenest on your street.
Top 5 Lawn Maintenance Tips for Healthy Grass
- Mow on a Regular Schedule – One of the simplest forms of lawn care is to mow your lawn consistently. The ideal height for healthy and tidy grass is 2.5 to 3 inches. Generally, mowing every one to two weeks after your grass achieves this height will allow you to keep your lawn looking gorgeous all summer long. If you’re getting a lot of rain and your grass is growing like wild, you may need to mow even more frequently, perhaps as often as twice a week. When mowing, it’s best to cut your lawn down by no more than ⅓ of its height to keep from weakening your grass.
- Water Your Grass the Right Amount – Watering your grass may seem like the simplest kind of lawn care but you need to be careful when you water and how often. In Minnesota, melting snow and spring rain showers tend to sustain grass for quite some time. You probably won’t need to start watering until late May or early June, unless it’s an unusually dry spring. When you do water, stick to twice per week at most and make sure to water in the morning. This will give your grass all day to soak up water without leaving behind a lot of excess.
- Don’t Let Weeds Grow – Weeds can ruin the beauty of a lawn faster than just about anything else. An important part of lawn maintenance is eliminating common weeds such as dandelions, crabgrass and creeping charlie, which will compete with your grass and make your yard look messy. Using pre-emergent weed control products in early spring can allow you to eliminate these lawn invaders before they even have a chance to sprout. If noxious weeds do pop up, there are plenty of herbicides which you can use to kill them before they start choking out your grass.
- Don’t Forget to Fertilize – On top of watering your grass, you’ll also need to feed it nutrients by applying fertilizer. Both granular and liquid fertilizers can be used on your lawn to stimulate dense and healthy growth. Make sure to wait until after you’ve treated your lawn with pre-emergent weed control before applying fertilizer. Otherwise, you could end up aiding the growth of noxious weeds. Be careful not to use fertilizer too often, especially in spring, as you can actually weaken your lawn by doing so.
- Green Up Bare Patches – Bare or browned patches in your lawn are unsightly and it’s best to plant new grass quickly if you discover such a spot in your lawn. Start by digging up the dead area and adding in some nutrient-rich soil and fertilizer to help your new grass grow swiftly to match the rest of the yard. Then, you can either plant grass seed or lay down sod in the bare patch. Whichever option you choose, be sure to water frequently to help your new grass take root and grow strong.
Professional Lawn Maintenance Services in the Twin Cities
Proper lawn care takes a lot of time and effort. If you don’t feel you have enough free space in your schedule for lawn maintenance, there’s no shame in hiring a professional service to keep your lawn pristine year-round. Get in contact with Ground One today for premium lawn maintenance services in the greater Twin Cities area!