Lawn Maintenance Calendar

Spring
March and April: Rake up leaves and debris in yard.
Sharpen mower blade.
May: Apply broadleaf herbicide.

Summer
Water correctly (figure A): Soak lawn 6 to 8 inches deep...sandy soils take 30 minutes. For clay soils, it could take a couple of hours.
If you plan to kill off your lawn, August is a good time to do it.

Fall
Mulch leafs on lawn with mower.
Aerate soil – getting air down to the roots.
Apply pre-emergent herbicide to prevent growth of annual bluegrass and chickweed.

Winter
Maintain your mower – drain the oil and gasoline and change the filter (figure B).

Fixing Brown or Bald Spots

Small Patch
Clean up dead grass with a rake, trowel or shovel.
Scrape the grown grass or poke holes in it.
Lightly scatter seed.
Water.

Large Patch
Loosen edges of the brown patch using a shovel.
Dig up the dead grass. You could use a device called a sod cutter to help.
Till the soil.
Rake remaining debris, grass and soil to even out the surface.
Lay sod by first starting along an edge.
Butt the ends together.
Cut off any excess using a knife.
Roll out any bumps.
Water sod to help it establish a good root system.