7 Spring Lawn Tips for Gorgeous Grass: What to Do Now Before Your First Mow From the Experts Gardening Do-It-Yourself Home Chicago

Soon the scent of the season across the country will be a newly mown lawn. But before then, there’s much to do in your yard in the spring.

Following these seven lawn tips steps from LawnStarter in the next few weeks will make all the difference. For example, what’s the secret to a perfect lawn? “No secret. Just weed control, fertilization, water and mowing," says David Solomon of Solomon's Services in Chicago.

Here is your spring lawn checklist:

1. Clean Up Your Lawn: Give your lawn a gentle raking to remove dead grass or debris from winter. If you see lawn damage from rock salt, flush salt from grass roots and apply gypsum to neutralize salt.
2. Reseed Bare Spots: After winter, fill thin spots by spreading new grass seed. Prep bare spots by roughing up the soil, add a slight mound of topsoil or compost, then sow seed.
3. Aerate the Ground: Core aeration pokes holes in the ground to allow absorption of nutrients and oxygen. Tom Fritz from Chicago Botanic Garden recommends aerating twice a year, in spring and fall.
4. Get Your Mower Ready: Prepare for the grass-cutting season, which typically starts in late April or early May. Sharpen lawnmower blades and clean the underside of the deck.
5. Apply Fertilizer: Spring fertilization in Northern Illinois, for example, is best after mid-May, according to the University of Illinois Extension, but only if your grass needs it.
6. Block Weed Growth: Apply pre-emergent herbicide in spring to keep annual weed seeds (crabgrass, purple nettle, henbit) from germinating. Apply around the time forsythia blooms across Chicagoland.
7. Water Your Lawn: The University of Illinois Extension recommends 1 to 1 1/2 inches of water per week for Chicago lawns, delivered in two 30-minute sessions per week. That could vary around the country for different climates.

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