Every homeowner wants to make their patch of lawn shine like an emerald and for good reason. Not only is a thick, lush lawn aesthetically pleasing but green spaces are good for your health, wellness and budget.

Studies have shown lawns having a cooling effect on your home – eight average front lawns have the cooling effect of 70 tons of air conditioning – and planting shade trees around your home can lower attic temperatures by up to 40 degrees and reduce air conditioning costs.
Green spaces add to the enjoyment of your home and neighborhood, and that is why Project EverGreen asked the lawn care specialists at Weed Man for tips on how to make your lawn the best it can be this spring.

Here are three tips for planting, feeding and letting your lawn breath this spring:

1.) Planting the Seed for Your Lawn

Overseeding – the practice of sowing additional seed over existing grass to bolster and restore your lawn – should be part of every homeowner’s spring lawn care to-do list.
Overseeding is necessary since, over time, the individual grass blades on your lawn weaken and perish with age, thus making it more vulnerable to disease, insects and weeds. Areas in your yard which are harmed by anything from extreme temperatures to heavy foot traffic also benefit from overseeding. It helps reestablish a lawn’s strong foundation, and progressively improves the overall health and appearance.
Spring is a good time to overseed your lawn when there is frequent rainfall followed by warm days that promote seed growth. Affected patches of lawn should be well raked before to overseeding, in order to remove dead grass and loosen the soil. This promotes the new seed’s growth by providing additional aeration and drainage for water.

2.) Feeding Your Lawn to Be Its Best

If you want your lawn to look and feel its best, you need to feed it the proper diet of water and nutrients. Of the more than 100 known elements, 16 are essential plant nutrients. The three most important to plants are carbon, hydrogen and oxygen; which plants get from air, water and the organic matter in the soil.

Three key plant nutrients your lawn needs to have a consistent dose of include nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. If you look at a fertilizer bag, you will see three numbers on the front, for instance, 25-4-9. These numbers tell you the percentage of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (in that order) in the fertilizer.

Different kinds of fertilizers are used for different situations. A fertilizer high in phosphorus will help a newly-seeded lawn develop. A fertilizer with a greater percentage of nitrogen can be used to promote growth in an established lawn.

It’s not enough just to know the amount of nutrients. You’ll also need to know what kind of nitrogen is in the fertilizer. Weed Man slow-release nitrogen is coated with Sulphur, so that the nitrogen is only available to the plant when soil bacteria have broken down the Sulphur coating. This process is gradual, so the slow release nitrogen provides nutrients to the plants over a period of about eight weeks.

3.) The Ins and Outs of Aeration

The benefits of aeration to your lawn cannot be stressed enough. This service reduces soil compaction, excessive thatch, and provides a top dressing for the lawn. By breaking up compaction and removing excess thatch, the infiltration of fertilizer nutrients, sunlight and air down into the soil is greatly improved. With this improved movement of needed elements, root growth is stimulated.

The grass plant can access and store more nutrients and water necessary to improve its health and stress tolerance, which will directly benefit the lawn’s health during demanding periods in summer where heat and drought can take its toll. Aerating provides several valuable benefits to your lawn including:

• Strengthening the root system and having the roots shoot deeper, which helps the lawn prepare for summer’s heat and dry conditions.
• It allows water and fertilizer to penetrate deeper into the soil where it does the most good.
• Microbial activity increases in the lawn which helps reduce thatch.
• The plugs left behind after aeration will decompose and further fertilize the lawn.

For more information on Project EverGreen’s programs that promote the economic, social and lifestyle benefits of managed green spaces, visit www.ProjectEverGreen.org

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While spring has recently just arrived it is never too early for homeowners to start thinking about getting their lawn in shape and looking good.

With the help of our friends at Weed Man, Project EverGreen has put together a “Spring Lawn Care Checklist” to help you organize your to do list and get your lawn ready for spring and summer fun!

Inspect Your Lawn. Get your rake on – it’s not just for fall anymore. Gathering up last year’s leaves and thatch – that dead grass under all of the green grass in your yard – is important to keeping your lawn healthy. More than a ½ inch of thatch is detrimental, and you’ll have to rake hard to remove it. This also reveals any dead spots that were covered by the thatch that you should now treat.

Maintain That Mower. Arguably one of the most fun parts of spring is that dormant cutting machine in your garage. Before you fire it up, though, make sure to sharpen the blades, replace spark plugs and check the oil and air filters. If you need to take it to the shop, do it early. Repair shops get swamped this time of year.

Check Hoses and Sprinkler Heads. To conserve the most water possible, make sure you don’t have any leaky hoses or rotors, and that they’re spraying only where you want them to. No sense giving the driveway a bath.

Create a Compost Pile. Pick a spot away from your house and pile your grass clippings, dead leaves and even kitchen scraps. Give it a turn or two every weekend and you’ll soon have a nutrient-rich mixture to spread on your garden.

Get Organized. You’ll save yourself tons of time if your garage or garden shed is in proper order. Enlist (or coerce) your family to help – it’s a great way to spend some time together and be productive. Get some music on the radio, lots of trash bags and go! Get rid of anything you haven’t seen and haven’t missed in the last year. Throw away ancient bird seed. Take everything out, sweep the floor and put things back in a logical and orderly way. Return tools back to their proper places. Anything you don’t need, give to charity or sell.

Mulch Your Yard. Mulch around the bases of trees, shrubs and in flower beds helps keep your plants warm and retains water. Don’t lay it on too thick, though. A depth of 2 to 4 inches is all you need to get the job done. Early bulb shoots might need a bit more in the start of the season to protect them from damage.

Prune Roses, Shrubs and Bushes. Break out those pruning shears and trim up the plants that don’t bloom in the spring. Remove the deadwood, and keep the foliage in the plant’s natural shape. This will help the plants thrive as the season gets under way.

Turn Over Your Garden and Plant Seeds. Now is the time to amend your garden soil with fertilizer, peat moss and other nutrient-rich material to feed your vegetables all season long. Use a shovel and hoe or a powered tiller to break up the dirt and turn in your amendments.

Clean and Flush Your Gutters. Do this before the spring rains. Remove any debris from the gutters and downspouts, and then flush with a jet spray nozzle on your garden hose. Not only does this protect your foundation from water damage, but it also keeps the heavy downpours from inundating any plants under your eaves.

Clean Your Patio Furniture. Pull out the chairs and tables from your basement or garage, wipe off the cobwebs and dirt from last fall’s clambake and set up your backyard furniture. Take a seat and enjoy your newly organized yard with your favorite drink.

For more information on Project EverGreen’s programs that promote the economic, social and lifestyle benefits of managed green spaces, visit www.ProjectEverGreen.org

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Making Your Lawn the Best It Can Be This Spring

Preparing Your Lawn for the Arrival of Spring