Thankfully our winter was not as brutal as some predicted. Sure, we had some cold days and some snow. According to some metrics Jan was about as cold as last year in Indiana. At any rate, here we are in the spring. Trees are budding. Flowers are blooming. Grass is growing.

Hopefully last year you helped to break up any soil compaction by giving your lawn a good raking and/or aerating. If not and your soil is compacted then you might consider an early year aeration. Just do not do it when the ground is overly wet. You want to remove core plugs from the lawn during aeration and that is hard to do in soft soil.

Let’s assume your lawn is not compacted. What’s next? Raking! The leaves that didn’t get raked last year or blew from your neighbors yard? Many of them are pressed down into the yard and forming a barrier that will retard grass growth. Time to rake them up and any heavy thatched areas.

Spring time also brings weeds. If you haven’t already it’s time to get your weed pre-emergent fertilizer down. In my opinion it’s one of the most important fertilizers to use. Without it your lawn will look yellow and white within days. Furthermore it will be difficult to get a hold of the weed issue going forward.

Lastly, sharpen your lawn blade. A dull blade doesn’t cut the grass but whacks it. It may appear to be cutting it but you can also tell when lawn has been mowed with a dull blade. The grass will look ragged and uneven on the ends as well as brown. Thus it is a good idea to sharpen (and balance) your blade several times during the year.

Note: I am not a professional lawn care professional but these are my observations and opinions of the minimal and inexpensive things to do to keep a lawn looking decent.