The window between the last serious rain and the first 90-degree day is short around here. What you do (and don’t do) in that window mostly decides how your lawn looks all summer. Here’s the short list.
1. Mow before you rake
Hit it with the mower at a normal height first to clean up the long ragged stuff. Then go after thatch, leaves, and dead patches with a rake or a dethatcher. Doing it in the other order makes a mess.
2. Aerate if it’s been a few years
If your lawn feels spongy or water beads on top instead of soaking in, you’ve got thatch buildup or compaction. Core aeration in spring (not summer — too hot) opens it up. We can rent the equipment to you or just do it.
3. Pre-emergent goes down now, not in May
Once the soil hits about 55°F consistently, weed seeds start germinating. Pre-emergent only works if you put it down before that. By the time you see the weeds, you’ve missed your window — switch to spot spraying.
4. Skip the heavy fertilizer push
Spring fertilizer is fine, but the over-the-top “scotch turf-builder, double dose, right now” approach burns roots and makes your lawn dependent. A balanced feed in March and another in late May is plenty.
5. Tune the irrigation before you need it
Spend 20 minutes running every zone manually. Look for: spray heads stuck halfway up, heads spraying the sidewalk, dry corners, broken risers, and any zone that won’t shut off. Fix it now while it’s 70°F outside, not in July at 6 AM with a flashlight.
That’s the whole list. If you’d rather not deal with it, send us a note — we do spring tune-ups across Yuba and Sutter every March and April.