Spring care key to healthy summer lawn

What you need to do in your yard will depend on how it survived the winter.

First, take care not to tread on your lawn if it is soft or mushy. You want to avoid tramping around when it is soft to avoid soil compaction. Compacted soils can lead to problems that will require effort to correct.

When the ground is solid, you should begin to clean up any winter debris that is present. Limbs, twigs or leaves, which have found a home on your lawn over the winter, need to be removed. Sharpen your mower blades, and mow low to take off the dead leaf tips and other small debris.

Once you notice active growth, consider aerating your lawn if you didn't get it done in the fall. Aerating activities help oxygen reach the roots in your lawn, and will help stimulate growth of your grass.

If you notice thin or bare spots, you can overseed to increase the density of your grass and help crowd out weeds. Mid to late spring after the soil has begun to warm is a good time to seed. Cool season grasses do best in Northern Illinois. Most quality grass seeds for this area are mixtures and blends of Kentucky bluegrass, perennial ryegrass and fine fescue.

Select a mixture or blend based on sun exposure (full sun, mixed sun and shade, or deep shade).

Make sure to provide some degree of soil preparation even if you are doing some interceding into existing turf. Small grass seeds should remain fairly close to the soil surface to encourage seed-to-soil contact. Be sure to apply water regularly until germination is complete. Then gradually cut back on watering in order to promote a deep root system.

Additionally, you may have noticed several weeds in your lawn last year, and a good way to get ahead of the problem is to use a pre-emergent weed (e.g. crab grass) control product. Pre-emergents work by preventing weed seeds from germinating.

A good time to make your first application is just as the forsythia has finished blooming. Remember that pre-emergent herbicides will be active for up to 12 weeks and will prevent grass seed from sprouting.

Hold off on heavy fertilization as early spring feeding encourages the growth of lots of tender grass leaves that will have a hard time surviving the heat of summer. However, if your lawn is in bad shape, you might want to lightly fertilize in spring with a slow release fertilizer.

You will find a helpful source of information on caring for and maintaining your lawn throughout the growing season at extension.illinois.edu/lawntalk

- Mary Moisand

• Provided by Master Gardeners through the Master Gardener Answer Desk, Friendship Park Conservatory, Des Plaines. Call (847) 298-3502 or email northcookmg@gmail.com.