Guest Blog: DIY Your Spring Lawn Projects by Rose Hill Lawncare

The Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce would like to welcome guest blogger Cary Albin of Rose Hill Lawncare with tips on how to spring into lawn care this season!

Here’s how to jump start your spring lawn and landscape projects!

At Rose Hill Landscaping, we can provide all of the following services, but just in case you want to tackle it yourself,
follow these five landscaping tips into your spring project plans to improve the appearance of your property,
increase the value of your home and, best of all, make your yard great!

1. Clean up your property: The first thing you must do to prepare for any spring landscaping project is to clean up
the lawn, beds and garden. Blow the debris from your lawn and dethatch it if needed as well as give it a core
aeration if it needs it. This is recommended especially if you have bare or thinning spots as well as if you have clay.
Pick up all branches that may have fallen during the winter, leaves and debris that may be on the lawn, in the
garden and beds, and clean up the area you are preparing to work with. If you have irrigation, make sure that your
system has been properly maintained and is blown out at the end of each season and tested by a pro.

2. Plant and feed: If you plan on planting new grass seed or installing sod, make sure you do not apply any pre-
emergent with the early spring lawn treatment. Pre-emergents that stop crabgrass also stop grass seed from
germinating! Just apply a balanced fertilizer in these areas. If you plan on waiting until the fall to do your annual
grass planting or sod installation, then I advise you to apply a crabgrass barrier pre-emergent plus fertilizer to the
lawn. You can get the Scott 4 step products at Lowes or other retailers locally that will provide great results.For all
plants and garden vegetables, make sure the soil is in the proper condition for planting. I would advise a soil test
before planting anything to make sure you know what nutrients the soil is deficient in.Add MiracleGro organic
matter or compost to the soil at the time of planting to improve the soil structure and to promote deeper roots.
This will mean less stress from insects, disease and heat. It will also result in a lower water bill, as you’ll need to
water these areas less.

3. Sharpen your mower blades: If you winterized your lawn mower and didn’t sharpen the mower blades, sharpen
them now. There are plenty of professionals that can do this for you for a fee of around $20 to $30. If you plan on
doing this yourself then make sure to remove the spark plug before attempting to take the blades off. Sharpening your mower blades will help you cut the grass instead of tearing it. Tearing the grass blades can cause an unsightly tan or brown color to a freshly cut lawn. It also can promote fungus development.

4. Set a higher mowing height: For cool-season grasses, such as bluegrass or fescues, the height should be 3 to 4
inches high after being cut. As a general rule of thumb, never cut more than 30% of your height off, whether it be
grass blades, shrubs, trees, bushes, or any plant. If you must cut more than 30%, space your cutting out over time.

5. Mulch: Apply a 3-4 inch layer of fresh mulch over all beds to help reduce the amount of weeds that will pop up.
Your thumb or a dollar folded in half is about 3 inches, so, use this as the minimum thickness for your mulch beds
for maximum effectiveness in stopping weeds. Hand pull or dig and get the roots of the weeds beforehand or
carefully spray a glyphosate product such as Roundup on any weeds that have emerged after mulching. If you would like to use a natural non-selective weed control, then try using a vinegar or citrus oil based product.
Be very careful not to spray any desirable plants though.

As always, we can provide all of these installation & maintenance services and more at Rose Hill Landscaping & Lawn Care. Call us or go online to set up any of the services above as well as brick paver patios, new home landscape installation, retaining walls and design / makeovers.