Spring Lawn Care & Treatment Guide - Step By Step Tips

Last updated on March 26th, 2022

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Having a stunning lawn will compliment all of your garden and really complete the overall look. The best way to make sure you have the perfect lawn is to put in some time and effort come spring. Spring is the perfect time to get some tasks done like mowing the lawn, giving your grass something to eat, getting rid of ugly weeds, and filling in those bare patches left behind from winter.

A simple routine every spring will ensure that you will have a lawn you are proud of, one that will not only stay green itself but make your neighbours green with envy.

So what can you do during the spring to help your lawn perform at its best?

Regular mowing to make sure your lawn is at the right height is crucial. If you have a shaded lawn, it should maintain a height of around 6-7cm. For all other lawns, it’s good to have an average of 3cm, which means keeping it nice and short.
Equally important in the spring is to give your lawn some food to increase its overall health and strength, especially in preparation for the summer.
This is the time of year to apply the first weed treatment of the year to prevent any extra weeds from cropping up once the sun reappears. Preventative measures are more effective than having to go through your lawn by hand and remove the weeds months down the line. Weeding and feeding can be done at the same time using a lawn weed and feed mixture that you spread over your lawn.
You also want to spend this time alleviating those dead patches, the bare areas that didn’t quite make it through the winter. Get ready to do a little reseeding.
Spring is when you scarify your lawn to alleviate any build up of thatch layers, removing things like dead grass, debris that may have fallen from nearby trees, and more commonly moss.
Finally, it’s time to aerate your lawn so that water and air circulate into the roots and this will tackle any drainage issues.

Now let’s look at this list in more detail.

Mowing

First up is mowing. Regular mowing will help your lawn to be fantastic when it is growing in the spring. As the weather gets warmer you will likely need to increase when you mow to about once a week, two max. Your goal should be to maintain the same height throughout the spring so that your lawn stays relatively the same.

What should this height be? That’s based on the type of lawn you have.

If your lawn stays in the shade, it is underneath a lot of trees and doesn’t see a lot of sunlight, let it get to about 6-7cm before you mow it.
If your lawn is something that you, your family and pets walk across all the time, and it gets trodden often, you can let it be around 5cm before you mow it.
For all other lawns, you want to maintain a height of approximately 4cm throughout the spring, so keep it nice and short.

The reason you need to consider the type of one you have and subsequently the height is that mowing too short weakens the grass. If your lawn is weak, it will allow weeds and moss to take over choking out the grass that you are so desperate to thrive.

Once all that is done you also want to regularly trim the edges of the lawn. This will allow you to have crisp, well-manicured lines that look very appealing.

Have you considered a cordless lawnmower? We recently reviewed some of the top models and they are better than ever with longer run times and fast charging times. See our cordless lawnmower reviews by clicking here

Treating weeds

Remove weeds from lawns using weed puller and applying a weed and feed in spring and autumn

Now is the time to deal with weeds. With any lawn, weeds can be a huge problem. Healthy, well-fed lawns can prevent weeds and moss better than unhealthy lawns but there is still work you will need to do.

Start by applying a liquid lawn weedkiller. Always apply based on the instructions so that you don’t damage your lawn. If you don’t have issues with weeds but you do have to contend with moss, you can find lawn moss killer specifically to help you with this problem.

Understand that if you have an issue with moss, and you apply a killer, the moss will start to turn black as it dies away. This is perfectly fine and then you can remove it later, however, if you are going to have a garden party, give yourself enough time for the moss to change colour and be removed before you schedule the event in question. Otherwise, things might look a little weird.

Scarifying your lawn to remove thatch and moss

Lawn care - scarify and aerate your lawn to remove moss and thatch

Now is the time to scarify the lawn, especially if the moss has been treated and turned black. This process is where you take a rake and you physically remove the dead grass and other debris that is on top of your lawn. This matter collects and then prevents feed and water from reaching the roots of your lawn, which results in dead patches.

You want to do this after applying the weedkiller or moss killer so that you can remove any leftover debris in the process. This will help keep the grass growing healthily.

You can learn more about how to scarify a lawn in our guide by clicking here

See our top 8 lawn scarifiers in our comparison review here

Start feeding your lawn in spring

Although lawn feed can be applied by hand, we strongly recommend using a lawn spreader as you you apply it at the wrong rate or apply too much it will burn the lawn and kill the grass. The best way to avoid this is to use a lawn spreader which will apply it at the correct rate

Next on the list is feeding. Just like all other plants and trees in your garden, your grass needs food now and again. It’s important to feed your lawn with the right food, at the right time in order for it to grow successfully. You can buy specially designed spring lawn feeds.

Good fertilisers help make the grass greener, literally, but it also strengthens the grass so that it grows thicker and more robust. This is not important in terms of the aesthetic appeal; stronger grass is able to compete with weeds and handle any weather-related stress. In the spring it’s best to apply a granular feed, one that provides nutrients over several weeks.

See our top recommended lawn feeds in this review

If you want to control weeds you can also apply a fertiliser that has controlling features for weeds and moss. If you choose to apply this yourself, it’s recommended that you use a lawn spreader. This is a very simple tool that you wear, fill with the fertiliser, and then crank the handle and watch as it spreads evenly across the entire lawn. You can also get larger models that you push, as pictured above, all times are relatively inexpensive.

That really is the key, an even spread. You don’t want to give one section of your lawn twice as much strength while depriving the other sections. There are similar wheeled spreaders that you just push across your lawn, especially if you have a bigger lawn. Applying too much can actually cause more damage and kill parts of your lawn so always follow the instructions on the packaging.

You will have to feed your lawn approximately every 6 weeks, depending on the feed that you choose. This will keep your lawn healthy and strong throughout the summer. Make sure you pay attention to the label for the food you choose so that you can reapply when necessary.

Dealing with bare patches

With those issues out of the way, it’s time to deal with the bare patches that are left behind by winter. Winter can leave unsightly areas on your lawn and if you don’t deal with them they become the perfect place for weeds and moss to thrive. You can cover the areas using lawn patch repair products or simply apply some new grass seed. These include grass seed and slow-release feeds to help you cover the bare patches with thick and healthy grass, quickly.

Patch magic dog spot – Available from Amazon.co.uk

If the bare patches are the result of dogs, usually because they choose to wee on the lawn, you can add salt-tolerant grass seed to help that area grow back. There are specific dog spot repair products you can find on the market for this purpose.

Learn more about how to repair dead patches on your lawn in our guide by clicking here

Learn how to extend your lawn in this step by step guide, which I documented in my own garden

Aerating your lawn in spring

When you pick your aerating tool, you want to find something that removes approximately 6cm deep and one centimetre wide but any aerator is better than no aerator. You can rent machines like these from garden stores or DIY stores but you can get some affordable electric model now too.

Using a hollow tined aerator or garden fork this process does what you think it does: it opens up the lawn and provides room so that air can circulate. This will help improve drainage and result in a better-growing lawn.

You should go approximately 5-10cm deep, aerating every 10cm or so. Doing this manually is better for smaller lawns and is something you can tackle within a short amount of time but of course, if you have a large, sprawling lawn it’s better to invest in an aerator to help make the process significantly faster.

Check out some of our recommended lawn aerators here

We also have a guide on how to aerate your lawn which you can read here

Be sure to water your lawn after all of these steps so that it has enough time to absorb the nutrients from the fertiliser, absorb the weedkiller to tackle the weeds at the root level, and of course to reap the benefits of things like scarifying and aerating.

Following all of these steps will help you to have a well maintained, healthy lawn all throughout spring! Remember that this is something you should be repeating every spring and making it a regular part of your routine will keep your lawn verdant year after year.