Before you know it, spring will be here. You will want to be out enjoying your lawn when the weather gets warmer, but what are you going to do if your lawn is brown, patchy, and looks embarrassing? Here are some lawn care tips to help prepare your lawn for the upcoming spring:

Do these things first

If you have not done it already, make sure that your lawn care equipment has undergone maintenance, and is ready for spring. You do not want to try to operate your lawn mower in March, only to find that it doesn’t work, or that the blades are not sharp. Talk to your lawn care professional on getting this done.

Also, next fall, make sure that you aerate your lawn before winter, seed it if necessary, and put a final coat of fertilizer on before the winter. In a sense, you want to put your lawn “to bed” each fall, before winter comes.

Be careful with the snow on your lawn

You know what is a “good way” – as in not a good thing to do – when it comes to getting your lawn in shape? Shoveling the winter snow and stacking it on one area of your lawn. Snow may not seem like it has much too it, but putting three or four feet of snow on just one lawn area may cause damage to that part of the lawn. Instead, try to stack the snow off your lawn, if you can. If you have no other area to put it, then at least evenly distribute the snow you shovel throughout your lawn.

On the other hand there is no need to get all of the snow off your lawn when a winter storm comes. Just leave it be, for the most part, unless snow is there for a long time. If that happens, your lawn could be susceptible to snow mold. But generally speaking, if you get a moderate amount of snow, as long as it will melt relatively quickly, you can leave it alone. The same goes with ice on the lawn, unless it is there for weeks at a time.

Watch out for salt damage

Fencing and screens around your lawn may keep rock salt – the stuff used to melt snow and ice on roads and sidewalks – away from your grass. But it doesn’t always work. If you apply some sort of deicing product to your sidewalk, steps, and driveway, be careful that it does not end up on your lawn, as it can do damage. And if you are shoveling your sidewalk after putting salt on it, make sure that you do not put the shoveled snow on your lawn, or it can cause damage. Also, be judicious about the amount of rock salt that you use – just put on as much as you need to deice your sidewalk, and no more. When the temperatures heat up, you can use water to help get salt off your lawn, but do not do this until it is in the 40s or 50s. Also, gypsum can help alleviate salt damage.

Get lawn maintenance done for spring

After a long winter, your lawn may need to be aerated, and then mowed low to eliminate thatch. Your lawn may also need to be fertilized and reseeded. When it comes to lawn maintenance other than mowing, Lawn Doctor can supply time-tested lawn care tips and help you every step of the way. Talk with your Lawn Doctor professional to make sure your lawn is prepared.