March 21 marked the first day of spring, and with that brings beautiful weather here in Santa Clarita. As you look around your garden you notice your lawn areas look weak, yellow and tired. Imagine standing in one place all winter and subjecting yourself to freezing weather, wind, rain and all the elements. Good thing, lawns are tough and just a little attention will bring that youthful appearance right back.
Start by mowing and edging the lawn and inspect the blades. Is the mower cutting or tearing as it passes over the lawn? If the mower is tearing the blade of grass you’ll notice a frayed look. This will normally yellow to the bottom of the tear and give the turf an overall yellowing affect. If it’s frayed, get the blade into a mower shop and get it sharpened. A good inexpensive idea is to pick up a spare blade, so you always have a sharp one.
Next, take a screwdriver and try pushing it into the sod. If it penetrates easily, water and fertilizer will also penetrate easily. If it’s hard to push into the ground consider aireating the turf. This can be done with a core aireator, available at most rental centers, or an aireating tool can be picked up at most nurseries and garden centers. Aireating is one of the most important things you can do to keep a healthy lawn, and save water!
At this point check your sprinkler coverage. Over time sprinklers will fall out of adjustment. The best way is to place a dozen or so small cans or equal size cups around the lawn, turn on the system for five minutes and look into the cups. If your system is working properly there will be an equal amount of water in each cup, if it varies adjust the system for even coverage and water conservation. If it’s an automatic system, check the timer and set it depending on the weather and your turf’s exposures
Lastly you’ll want to fertilize the lawn. Here at the farm, we use a balanced fertilizer, designed for turf. I prefer the 15-15-15 and use it at half the recommended bag rate. Be sure to water after application. If your lawn has been taken over by weeds, pull a sample of the weed and take it to you local nursery, find a qualified nurseryman to identify the weed, and they’ll show you your options of how to get rid of them.
Follow the above simple instructions, and the half of day’s work will give you a lawn to be proud of the rest of the year…
For further information see our website, www.superiorsod.com or call 800-344-7317.