What Is the First Thing You Put On Your Lawn in The Spring?

Last Updated on March 14, 2025 by Duncan

Like many other outdoor plants, your lawn is bound to benefit significantly from a spring boost.

This includes aerating, scarifying, and tidying to assist the grass regrow and grow vigorously. If you are new to lawn care, you might wonder what you should first put on your lawn in the spring, right?

Well, the first thing you should do is to apply fertilizer. After a long, harsh winter, you need to fertilize your lawn in the spring to give it the most needed boost.

Organic fertilizers made from natural ingredients are now available as an alternative to refined chemicals. Using natural fertilizers reduces the likelihood of runoff contaminating local bodies of water and wildlife.

A little application of rapid-release fertilizer in early spring will provide a significant boost of nutrients to accelerate recovery from the winter and assist in maintaining a robust, healthy turfgrass in the months ahead.

Your lawn may turn green within a few days of application. If you don’t want to spend much time on your lawn during the season, consider a combination of rapid-release and slow-release fertilizers.

Regardless of whether you choose to go with rapid-release or slow-release fertilizer, there are two major ways to apply the fertilizer:

Granular, or stable pellets: Granular is the best option for larger yards (1/2 acre and up), and you should distribute it throughout the grass using a broadcast spreader.

Liquid: Using a liquid variety diluted in water might be more practical if your grass is tiny (less than 1/2 acre). You can use this with a handheld (or backpack-style for larger yards) compression sprayer (with a pump) or connected to the end of a garden hose (to fertilize while you water).

Granular application is generally easier to control. A broadcast spreader (handheld or pushed) allows you to distribute pellets quickly and uniformly.

Another way to feed your lawn is using a mulching mower, which grinds grass into fine particles and feeds it with nitrogen throughout the season. Clippings break down and restore nutrients to the soil. Thus, you should not bag them.

Other things you should do to your lawn in spring

Get ahead of crabgrass

There is a limited window for controlling crabgrass, whether you want a home approach (e.g., vinegar), organic, or chemical management. If you apply the pre-emergent too soon, it will be ineffective. If you apply too late, the seedlings have already sprouted.

So, how can you know when is the best time to spray?

The goal is to keep soil temperatures at 55°F for three consecutive days. When temperatures exceed 65 to 70°F, crabgrass spreads quickly.

You should use a handheld or backpack compression sprayer (depending on the size of your property) to apply the weed killer. Do not combine a weed killer sprayer with other sprayer bottles; identify them properly.

Some formulations include “weed and feed,” which combines a pre-emergent crabgrass herbicide with fertilizer for early spring. This combo solution contains a light fertilizer to promote grass growth, while the pre-emergent prevents crabgrass seedling development.

Think about your yard before you start spraying. If you don’t have a lot of weeds, there’s no need to apply “weed and feed” or any other all-purpose weed killer. Instead, you should apply fertilizer to the lawn, then spot-treat the weeds.

Get your lawn mower ready for the cutting season.

In early spring, you should give your lawn mower an annual tune-up. If you have a gas-powered unit, you can do the preparation by yourself in 10 to 15 minutes. This calls you to replace the air filter, spark plug, and oil. Consider your operating manual to ensure you are doing the right thing.

Of course, if you have a cordless electric mower, you have no gas, filters, spark plugs, or oil changes to think about, making it extremely convenient and low-maintenance.

You must clean the space underneath the mower deck whether you have a gas or electric mower. Because this is a hidden place, old grass, and leaves accumulate over time. The mower blade’s movement is intended to complement the curve of the mower deck.

The mower deck’s vacuum pushes the lawn grass upright, allowing the blade to cut cleanly and evenly. If you do not clean beneath the deck, the vacuum will not function.

When we hear someone complain that their lawn mower isn’t cutting well, they usually neglect the region beneath the deck. Flip the unit open and get inside with a putty knife.

What about the blade? If it is not knicked, buying a new one is unnecessary. If you have sandy soil or a lot of pinecones, you can notice that the blade is damaged more frequently. Of course, always pick up sticks and debris before mowing to avoid damaging your blade.

You need to keep the blade sharp to cut through the grass rather than shredding it, which encourages disease and difficulties. Sharpen your blade two to three times every season.

Some people find it inconvenient to go to the shop and have the blade sharpened. Fortunately, it is affordable to unbolt the blade, replace it, and avoid sharpening altogether.

Another alternative is to have two blades to use one while the other is being sharpened.

The battery life of your electric lawnmower should last for hundreds of hours. This, however, is predicated on maintaining cleanliness and appropriately storing the mower and batteries.

The mower’s battery cells will not last as long if kept in a hot shed in the summer or a cold area in the winter.

Move the mower into a temperature-controlled garage or the basement if possible. You should be able to get hundreds of recharge cycles out of your mower if you don’t neglect it.

Dethatch your lawn

Thatch is the dead grass between the earth and the living grass. Having some thatch is beneficial since it helps reduce temperature extremes. On the other hand, a buildup of thatch that is more than half an inch thick would hinder water and air flow and attract pests and illness.

Too much nitrogen fertilizer, acidity or a lack of lime in the soil, frequent and shallow watering, and a lack of earthworms (typically due to chemical pesticides) can all lead to excessive thatch.

The ideal seasons to dethatch your grass are usually late spring and early fall. Dethatching too early in the spring will disrupt the fragile infant grass germinating, so you should avoid doing it.

You should remove any dead grass to give the grassroots more access to water and nutrients. There are specialized dethatching rakes for small yards; you drive the rake’s tines deep into the grass to reach the thatch layer underneath and drag the dead grass to the top.

Consider using an electric dethatcher if your yard is larger or has a significant thatch problem. This tool cuts through the dead grass and deposits it on the surface, pulling it up to the surface.

A dethatcher is frequently an attachment option for motorized multi-tools with various attachments (pruners, trimmers, etc.), or you can rent one from your neighborhood home improvement store. This powered multi-tool can be a fantastic choice if you frequently operate in the yard and garden.

After dethatching, you’ll be astounded at how much dead grass comes to the surface. After a few weeks, the grass will seem healthier despite the initial disarray.

After removing the thatch, you should overseed your lawn and put fresh grass seed in any places that are sparse or dead. You can use the same broadcast spreader you used for fertilizer for lawn seed. Simply place the grass seed in the hopper and proceed.

You might need to “aerate” your lawn if it seems compacted and hard. This is best done in the fall unless your soil is so compacted that grass cannot grow.

To allow the necessary oxygen, water, and nutrients to enter your lawn, use core aerators, mechanical devices that you use to remove soil clogs. You can rent core aerators from a home improvement store for a single use.

Edge the lawn

The final step in maintaining a nice and defined yard is to edge the lawn. An edger is similar to a shovel but with a blade that creates a crisp, clean edge between the turf and the driveway or sidewalk, preventing weeds from growing.

In some regions, particularly in the South, grasses such as St. Augustine grow outward rather than upward. The edger functions as a weed whacker with an edging blade. Manual edgers for tiny lawns and motorized edgers can handle any lawn size.

You can also edge the flower and landscape beds to give them a fresh, well-maintained appearance. Edge mulched trees to prevent mulch migration and establish a secure zone around tree trunks to protect them from lawnmowers.

You can use a shovel to edge, but it is difficult and time-consuming work. The best way out is to use a gas-powered or electric edger or bed redefiner with an angled blade that digs a trench around trees and swiftly completes the job.

Parting shot

The first thing to do on your lawn in spring is to fertilize it. As mentioned, it’s always wise to use natural or organic fertilizer as it tends to be less harmful to the soil. Besides fertilizing your lawn, you should dethatch it, and once you are done, edge it to make it look its best.