As of: February 19, 2024, 7:10 p.m
By: Ines Alms
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From mowing the lawn to liming: When you start caring for your lawn and spring treatment in the new year, the correct sequence of work steps is important.
Spring is just around the corner and with it a new lawn year.
After the winter break, the greenery needs light again and a lot of care in order to be fit for hot summers and to have high durability.
But in February it is still too early to start taking measures because the ground is often still too wet and the grass has not yet started to grow.
You can use this time to get the lawnmower up to speed and do a soil analysis.
From March onwards there are many tasks to be done and the lawn needs intensive care after the stressful winter period.
Lawn mowing only from March
When mowing the lawn for the first time of the year, you should be patient until the grass has grown enough.
© Panthermedia/Imago
Just be patient with the lawn mower.
First you should watch the grass grow.
From March or April, when the lawn is almost twice as high as desired, it is cut off.
If you are too hasty, late frosts can freeze the delicate leaf tips.
Mow about a third or at most half of the grass height - at least four centimeters should remain.
Fertilize only after mowing
When the lawn is fertilized for the first time after winter depends on the type of soil you have: the heavier the soil is, the more nutrients it is likely to contain from last year's fertilization.
You can fertilize a light, sandy soil from around March, when there is no longer any risk of longer frosts.
With heavy, clayey soil, this is often enough from May onwards.
For other soils, if grass growth is slow, it probably needs nutrients.
If possible, fertilize on a rainy day or the day before.
You can find even more exciting garden topics in the regular newsletter from our partner 24garten.de.
Scarify to aerate the lawn
In order to remove the thatch, scarifying the lawn is not necessary often within a gardening year - about once or twice, depending on its condition.
Spring, from April to May, is the best time for this as the green can recover well in the following months.
Scarify after mowing the lawn.
If larger amounts of moss are removed and gaps are created, reseeding is also possible if the soil temperature is above eight degrees Celsius.
Fertilizer is then recommended.
In order to aerate the lawn even more intensively and at the same time loosen it, aerating it once a year in spring can be a useful measure.
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Liming in acidic soil
Liming the lawn is possible every two to three years if the pH value of the lawn is too low and the grass looks dull.
If the soil is very acidic, you can also lime once a year.
The best months for this are March and April.
Liming causes the grass to become lush green again and slows down the growth of weeds and moss.
Before liming, you should do a soil analysis (for example with a test from a gardening store); a good pH value is between 5.5 and 7. If it is too low, the lawn is first mowed, scarified and, if necessary, aerated.
Fertilizing should not be done at the same time, but either six to eight weeks before or after liming.