NW Indiana Lawn Care Tips For May – Late Spring

Hey guys, ain’t ya glad May is finally here? April was cold, blustery, and just downright ugly!

The good news is, your lawn came through ok. Trust me, even if you think it is hurting, it’s not. A little TLC is all that little patch of green love requires. Let me help you!

4 Steps To A Great NW Indiana Lawn In May

Fertilize – If you want a super dark green lawn like mine pictured here, ya gotta start with a good dose of fertilizer. I go organic with my lawn care (cuz mine is super thick and healthy already), but you may not be so lucky.

If your lawn is thin and not growing well at this point, then organics are not gonna help you. You need something that will pack a punch and literally jump start your turf.

Go to the Home Depot in Schererville or Southlake Mall area and get a bag of “starter fertilizer” sometimes called “Lawn Starter.” They carry two brands that work very well. One is Vigoro and the other is Scotts. Either one of these is going to give your lawn the right dose to get it started.

Yes, This is my lawn in Crown Point. Nice eh?

If you are unsure of how to apply your own fertilizer, read this article on “The easy way to fertilize your lawn.”

Aerate – right after you fertilize, aerate the lawn. Aeration is the process whereby plugs of soil are removed from the lawn. This effectively loosens soil, but for our purposes, it will punch holes in the thatch layer and allow the fertilizer we just applied to get directly into the root zone where rain can wash it into the soil. This is a “must do” after the harsh winter we just had.

You can rent an aerator for about $60 for 4 hours, or hire a local landscaping company to do it for you.

Kill Weeds – The dandelions are making their annual rush and you will want to stop them ASAP. Keep in mind that dandelions are bi-ennial which means the same plant comes back every two years. If you kill dandies this year, you will have more next year that are different plants! From my experience, it takes a good 3-4 years to completely wipe out a bad infestation of dandies. So this year, let’s get them b4 they go to seed!

I ALWAYS recommend using a hand-pump-sprayer and liquid weed control. It is more effective and uses less pesticides than going with the old “weed and feed” in a bag. If you have a large property, just buy a bigger pump sprayer or backpack sprayer. It doesn’t take too long to do it right. Weed control products that contain “2-4D” will bring faster and more extensive results with cooler spring temps.

Make sure you get a weed control labeled for use in lawns! Don’t buy “Roundup” as it will kill everything. Look for wording such as “safe for lawns” or “kill the weeds, not the lawn.”

Catch/Bag or Mulch The Clippings? – when cutting the lawn early on… do both this year. For the first 4 or 5 mowings, I think it is best to go ahead and bag your clippings this year. This will help “suck out” some of the dead grass and leaves that are left from the winter. Once things start growing steadily, go ahead and start mulching your clippings and as always, be sure to mow at 3.5 or even 4 inches all season! Trust me, it works!

I’m telling you guys, if you follow these four tips this May, your NW Indiana lawn will come back strong as ever and you’ll be calling me asking for more great lawn tips! And I’ll be glad to help!

1. 

   Joe Porter says:

   May 11, 2011 at 3:36 pm

   This is just what i needed.. Quick question… I use the Weed-b-gon stuff that hooks up to the hose and you spray.. seemed to work well with my broad leaf weeds and dandies. I was going to use the starter fertilizer from scotts to help thicken my lawn.. and i will be getting an irragation system put in in the next couple weeks. and i will be aerating my lawn.. plus would like to seed the crap out of my lawn. What would you suggest my order of action should be with all that? or do you suggest something else?

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     Allyn says:

     May 13, 2011 at 2:31 am

     Hey Joe, definitely get the irrigation system in first because that in and of itself will tear up pretty bad.
     Right after that, aerate (because the sprinkler heads will still be marked) then overseed and apply the starter fert all in the same day.
     Then water the lawn daily for 10-15 days so the seed can germinate, then cut back the irrigation to 3x per week, 35 minutes per zone.
     Done!

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