Happy Tuesday my loves! Spring is in the air here in Michigan and I couldn’t be more excited. We spent the weekend dodging rain showers to prep our outside spaces for Spring and Summer! We’re far from finished, but we are so excited about the warmer weather finally arriving. We are hoping to create an outdoor space that we love so we can spend all of our extra time outside this year. As new-ish home owners, we’re still learning all the ins and outs of home care… especially when it comes to our lawn. The year we moved in our lawn wasn’t where we wanted it to be. Our backyard had no grass whatsoever, and our front yard was pretty patchy. So last year, we planted grass out back and tried to fix up the front yard as best we could with the supplies we had. (We couldn’t readily get everything we needed first thing in the spring because all the stores were closed because of the pandemic.)
But this year? This year is our year to shine!
We stocked up on lawn care supplies and have done a ton of research (and by research I mean talked to our dads) to make sure our lawn is ready to grow greener all season long! Our goal is to have the second prettiest lawn on the block. (We’ll never take the crown from our neighbor. His lawn is IMMACULATE and we’ve been told he’s kept it this way for the past 30 years!) So what are we doing now, to make sure our lawn is lookin’ great later this summer? Let’s get right to it!
Here are 5 Things We’re Doing to Prep Our Lawn for Spring and Summer!
Rake. First and foremost, we’re raking away all the dead stuff that Fall and Winter have left behind. Old leaves, dead grass, twigs, stems. Whatever it was that Old Man Winter left on our lawn, we raked it up and bagged it to be taken away with the trash on Wednesday. This is not an easy task. Our grass was almost matted from all the harsh Michigan weather this past winter. We filled up THREE bags from our tiny front lawn alone, and haven’t even started on our back yard yet. We found it was easier to use big leaf rakes, that are more flexible than typical metal garden ones. It covered more ground and didn’t cause damage to our grass either.
Weed. While Trev worked on raking, I worked on weeding! Dandelions didn’t stand a chance against me 🙂 I also pulled out all the dead plants around the yard to make room for the new blossoms that are starting to pop up. If Spring weeds are really bad in your yard, you can always spray them. But for us, it was simple enough to just pull the weeds as we saw them!
Fertilize. Our next step was to fertilize! We needed to give it nutrients so it can grown big and strong this year! We chose to fertilize before we overseeded simply because of the rain we were about to get. Rain helps to wash the fertilizer into the soil. We used a seed spreader to fertilize just before the rain was about to start. If it’s not about to rain when you fertilize, make sure water it well! The water ensures that the product will be washed into the soil and become available to the grass through the roots. (I learned that on Google 😎)
Overseed. Overseeding is when you put grass seed down over your existing grass. You do this to help fill in bare spots in your lawn and make it more lush and thick. Using a spreader makes it quick and painless. We always add a little extra seed by hand to spots that seem extra bare. Then, we water it once a day for at least 20 minutes, depending on the weather. Days that were warmer we will water a little bit longer so our new grass doesn’t burn. Pro Tip from Trev! Water early in the morning or later in the evening to avoid the high sun!
Cut and Water. Once our new grass seeds start to grow, we will start cutting our grass again! We typically cut our grass once a week. And water it every day! When cutting your grass be super careful not to over cut… you don’t want to give it a buzz cut! The general rule is to never remove more than 1/3 of the total grass blade when you cut.
And now… our lawn is set and ready for Spring and Summer! I asked Trev is he has any tips for general lawn maintenance throughout the year! Here is what he said!
- Make sure your tools are sharp and ready! At the beginning of the season he sharpens his mower blades, refills the spool in his weed wacker and makes sure that his mower has a full charge. (We have a battery powered lawn mower and LOVE it. It’s quiet and it works for us because we have very little green space in our yard. If you have a big yard, I don’t recommend this. But if you have a small yard, click here! It even folds up for vertical storage.)
- Cut your lawn once a week. Like I mentioned above, we have this lawn mower and love it!
- Use an edger to clean up sidewalks and driveways. Right now, Trev uses his weed wacker to edge. (It works just fine!) But, if you’re looking for an actual edger, get this one! It’s the one we will be purchasing when we are ready!
- Weed wack. Gotta keep the grass lookin’ good! We have this weed wacker.
- Water every day. Get a sprinkler and water every day. On the super hot summer days, water twice. It doesn’t have to be for long, but make sure your grass isn’t thirsty! You don’t want it to burn up and turn brown.
Do you have any tips for a pretty lawn? Leave ’em in the comments below!
Alright friends. I’m heading off to work! Here’s to hoping it’s a smooth day that goes by quickly! We are one day closer to Friday 🙂
Have the best day everyone! I’ll be back tomorrow!
Xx.
Savannah
Savannah Said It 