MENUThe arrival of spring is often accompanied by a big surprise when the snow melts and the grass is visible once again. Needless to say, there were few surprises this year due to the lack of snow. Some lawns, however, may have still suffered winter damage. This damage can range from fungal diseases to snow plow mishaps.Fungal diseases are characterized by discolored grass. It may be brown or gray. It may be large or small patches, or it may even be ring shaped. There is no treatment, only repair, regardless of the disease. When the grass and soil dry out, the disease goes away.To repair affected patches, rake out the dead grass using an iron rake. If the bare patches are small, they may fill in as the grass around them spreads. If they are large, however, you’ll have to reseed the bare spots.An easy way to reseed is to scratch the surface of the bare spots with an iron rake. Mix grass seed with soil and cover the bare spots with the mixture. Water the patches well and continue to water until the new grass begins to grow.This is also a good time to apply a pre-emergent weed killer to your whole lawn, before weeds begin to appear. This will give you a jump on the weeds that may otherwise plague you for the rest of the season. You can find a number of pre-emergent weed killers at your local garden center of home store.Applying a pre-emergent weed killer will cut down on the weeds that sprout up in your lawn but will probably not eliminate them completely. The pre-emergent that you apply will prevent those latent seeds that overwintered from sprouting. However, there is nothing you can do about weeds that spring up in the yards of neighbors who don’t treat. The wind can blow weed seeds in from those yards and nearby fields. You’ll need to apply post emergent weed killer to these.If you are on a lawn care program, our technicians will check for weeds each time they visit your property and treat for them using the most environmentally sensitive materials and application methods.If you find pieces of sod dislodged from the edges of your driveway resting further into the lawn, you may be able to piece them together in their original position. Just place each piece of sod in place and then walk over it to assure contact between the sod and soil. If re-sodding isn’t possible, seed the bare spots the way you would a bare spot anywhere in the lawn.Please contact our office if you would like to leave all of this work to our professionals. Our lawn care staff will be happy to discuss what the program entails at all levels. After visiting your property, our technicians will advise you if your lawn also needs aerification, renovation or other special procedures.
