For everything, there is a season. For a beautiful yard, you need four seasons.
Trimming, watering, and laying fertilizer are not labor-intensive. What makes yard maintenance tricky is timing those tasks.
When should you trim and water your grass? When should you aerate and fertilize? How can you take advantage of winter?
Here is a brief yard maintenance schedule for you.
January-February
Even in the winter, you should think about your yard. Shovel snow and melt ice as soon as you have them. Snow and ice can crush roots and wash away nutrients in the soil.
Start to make some plans for your yard. Think about what you want your yard to look like. Do some research into yard maintenance services, but know that you can maintain your yard yourself.
March
As winter turns to spring, you can start your yard maintenance. Clean up snow, ice, frost, or any other debris from winter. If you have brown patches of grass, fix them.
Fertilize your grass as soon as the weather turns warm. Grass stores energy through the winter and you can activate that energy with fertilizer.
April
Follow through on your fertilization. Divide your yard into sections, then fertilize one section every week.
Begin to aerate your yard. Leave holes in your soil to allow water, air, and nutrients to enter.
May-June
Try to wrap up your fertilizing. You can now begin watering your yard.
You do not need to water your yard every day, and you do not need to water for hours straight. Overwatering can prompt your grass to grow shallow roots, stunting grass growth.
Water every week or so, and water deeply. If you can place sprinklers deep within your soil, do so. Aerate your yard with deep holes so water can penetrate your soil.
You can start to cut your grass. Remove no more than one-third of the grass blade, as cutting deep can damage roots.
July-August
As the summer gets hotter, you may be cutting your grass more often. Set your mower blade height to three inches, and don’t cut more than twice per week.
Trim the edges of your yard to slow weed growth. Promote root penetration by deeply watering your yard. The deeper your roots grow, the fewer weeds you will have.
September-October
Rejuvenate your yard from the hot summer. Aerate your soil, and fertilize your yard over again.
Remove any dead grass and break up the soil underneath it. Add compost and seeds, working them into the soil with a rake.
October is the last month to water your yard. Remember that you only need one inch of water per month, so keep to infrequent and deep sprinkling.
November-December
Remove leaves as soon as they fall on your yard. By November, all your leaves should be off. If snow and ice settle on your yard, remove them.
You should prune trees in the winter because trees become dormant in the cool weather. Consider what trees and bushes you want a company to remove, and find out more about this tree pruning service.
A Yard Maintenance Schedule: The Key to a Great Yard
Go the whole nine yards for your yard. Adopt a year-round yard maintenance schedule, and you will have the best yard in no time.
Start to fertilize and aerate your yard in the early spring. As summer rolls around, water and aerate your soil, but don’t overdo them. With the fall, fertilize one last time and remove leaves and debris.
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