Cleaning and mowing

Now is the time to rake your lawn and remove leaves, sticks and other debris. Heavy accumulation of the above will smother the lawn and create bare areas, which could result in an overseeding program.

Always cleanup your lawn before you start your spring fertilization program. Does your lawn have a matted down look in some areas? If so, you probably have a turf fungus called 'snow mold'. Just rake these matted areas. This will help the turf recover from this 'snow mold' damage.

With spring  starts in the state, it is time to start mowing. You should begin mowing once the grass plants start to grow and reach about 3.0 to 3.5 inches tall. This normally happens well before most of us start mowing because we see mostly brown leaf blades and we don't think the lawn is growing.

However, grass plants grow from the bottom up where the new green leaf material elongates near the soil, pushing the older brown leaf material up into view. The first mowing generally will remove almost all of the old brown leaves revealing a nice green lawn below. Though none of us want to do it, it's better to start mowing your lawn too early than too late. Remember to sharpen the mower blades.