| Looking after a garden is a year round job for some. | | | | another, then compressed from the snow pack on |
| If you get a brief break because there is snow on | | | | top. Some of these may die over the winter and this |
| the ground, then there maybe some things you | | | | can leave you with a kind of straw-like covering, |
| might want to research before Spring. | | | | hence the name 'thatch'. |
| Spring isn't the only nor always the best time to do | | | | Doing something about this is easy. Just cut the |
| prep work. If you need to re-seed patches where | | | | grass a little later in Fall than you need to so that the |
| the lawn looks bare, just before the snow comes is | | | | length is controlled. This restricts the height and helps |
| a good time of the year to start. The seeds will get | | | | keep thatching to a minimum. |
| worked into the soil as the snow falls and lay | | | | In Spring give the grass a good raking. Of course, if |
| dormant during the winter months. | | | | you raked in the Fall, there won't be any leaves to |
| Once spring and the first melt arrive then the seeds | | | | get rid of but the extra raking helps pull up thatched |
| will be in good mud and the early stages of | | | | areas and allows air to get to the soil. |
| germination will begin. Once they start getting the sun | | | | If the ground has become hard, or the soil is easily |
| then good, fresh grass should follown in a couple of | | | | compacted, you can follow that up with an aeration. |
| weeks. | | | | This can be done either by using a special |
| Crabgrass and its relatives don't thrive in the Fall or | | | | attachment on a riding lawnmower and running it |
| Winter and this means that you have a head start on | | | | over the grass, or using special large-drum rollers with |
| that kind of weed control. As the new lawn grass | | | | spikes poking out. |
| starts to spread, it has a good chance of stopping | | | | An inexpensive way is to use special shoes which are |
| the crabgrass, and with any luck it won't develop at | | | | like golf shoes with spikes on the bottom. You just |
| all. | | | | put them on then walk around the area you want to |
| Start applying the Spring fertilizer at the earliest | | | | aerate. The tiny holes made by the shoes allow air to |
| possible time. This will help give the young shoots a | | | | penetrate the soil more easily. At the same time, it |
| good start and, if you use fertilizer that also controls | | | | makes channels for solid fertilizer pellets to fall into. |
| weeds, you may solve two problems in one go. | | | | After de-thatching and aerating, your lawn will be |
| As that snow continues to melt off there will be | | | | ready for you to carry out any weed control and to |
| areas where the grass has become thatched - this is | | | | start seeding, fertilizer application and regular mowing. |
| a condition in which the blades get lain over one | | | | Lawn care may not be easy but it is worthwhile. |