Waking up the lawn in spring

Soil Temps

It is that time of year to wake the lawn up. I can see my crocuses start to bloom which mean soil temps have started to rise. My favourite website to check for soil temps is: https://soiltemperature.app/. I am not ready for a full renovation yet as soil temps need to rise for at least another week. Once we hit 10 degrees C it will be time for the renovation. For now we are ready for some spring time clean up. Here is my spring time lawn wake up tips.

Rake out the lawn

Get out and rake off any snow molded or just dormant grass blades. This will give more room for the grass that is growing to get light. It also exposes that soil to hopefully speed up the ground temperatures increasing. My preferred way to rake out the lawn in spring is with a power rake or a dethatcher. Like this one: here. I use the dethatcher set to .5 inch above the soil line. I try to rake all the dead and dormant lawn blades out.

Clear the lawn of spring debris

After raking out the lawn, quickest way to clean off the debris is get the mower out. Attach your bag and bag up all the clippings. I was able to do my whole lawn in under an hour, and it came out greener on the other side.

Apply spring nitrogen to wake up the lawn

I also took this time since the soil temps are rising to put down my first granular application of nitrogen to help the grass kick start itself into gear. Remember to feed the grass to keep it looking green during the growing season. Follow the labeled application rates, as some products can harm the lawn if overapplied.

Watch the spring grass grow

Make sure to check my product page to see what other products and tools I use on my lawn, as you wake up your lawn for spring. I hope to be updating this page throughout the year to help others improve their lawns and enjoy them till fall.