You can have a great lawn in Maryland!
This area is known for many things, and one of those is our oppressive, humid, hot summers, counterbalanced by winters that have the potential for a lot of snow and freezing weather. This combination makes it hard to grow grass – the cool season grasses don’t like our southernly summers, and the hot-weather grasses don’t love our northern winters. You can have a great lawn in Maryland, though! Here are five great tips to achieve the healthy, vibrant, beautiful lawn of your dreams, despite the interesting weather in our area.
Inspect After Winter
The first step to a beautiful lawn begins right as the winter ends. Each year, you must inspect your lawn for the damage it may have sustained during the winter. It is not uncommon for our larger snow storms to leave snow accumulation for days up to a month. When snow sits on the grass, it can cause a fungus called snow mold to form and grow. Snow mold looks like matted-down grass with either a pink or grey tinge. If snow mold is damaged, rake up your grass to let the air circulate and dry it out. This should be enough to help most snow mold issues, but if they persist through April, you will need to reseed the area.
Spring Crabgrass Checks
Once we reach a period in the spring where soil temperatures are at least 55 degrees for several days, crabgrass will start to germinate. This is often towards the end of April, so applying crabgrass control should be done before. Crabgrass control needs to be pre-emergent.
Check For Summer Weeds
Most bigger summer weeds germinate in the fall, sprout in the spring, and flourish in the summer. To combat them, weed control must be applied at a minimum in the late spring. Late April and early May are ideal times for this. You could also benefit from an early spring application, especially if dandelions are an issue.
Fertilize
Finally, a healthy lawn will benefit from seasonal fertilizer applications in spring and fall. The types of grasses that you have will determine the amount of fertilizer they need, but generally, most fertilizers should have a 3-1-1 ratio of nitrogen to phosphorous to potassium. The total amount of nitrogen your grasses need should be split between your fall and spring applications.
Choose Edward’s Lawn & Home
For the past thirteen years, Edwards Lawn and Home has been offering premier residential and commercial services to improve your property all year long. The options are endless from a new patio to a backyard fire pit, let the winners of Angie’s List Super Service Aware serve you! If you’re interested in finding out more about our services or getting a quote, you can contact us online or give us a call at 443-341-6539. For more information about our services or DIY tips and tricks follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Houzz.