As the spring season rolls around here in South Dakota, you'll want to help your lawn successfully emerge from winter dormancy so that it can quickly green up and once again become a beautiful addition to your property. A great way to do that is by applying a fertilizer treatment to your lawn. However, before doing so, you may be wondering if you should first mow your lawn. Well, the answer is yes! It's a great idea to mow your lawn before fertilizing it for the first time this spring. That's because your lawn will likely have some overgrowth, and when you mow it, the fertilizer treatment will be able to reach and penetrate the soil more easily. Ideally, you should fertilize your lawn about 24 hours to a few days after mowing your lawn. However, it's important that you wait until your grass starts greening up and growing again before mowing it or fertilizing it!

Mowing your lawn before fertilizing it will help the fertilizer reach and penetrate the soil.

As the winter season comes to an end and the spring season gets underway, it's likely that your lawn is a little overgrown and probably has some debris on it. If you fertilize your lawn when it's overgrown or covered in debris, it can block some of the fertilizer from reaching the soil, making the treatment less effective. However, by mowing your lawn before applying your spring fertilizer treatment, you can remove the overgrowth and some of the debris from the lawn, making it easier for the treatment to reach the soil where it will be most effective!

How long should you wait to fertilize your lawn after mowing it for the first time in the spring?

While it's a great idea to mow your lawn before fertilizing it for the first time in the spring, you'll want to make sure you get the timing right. If you fertilize your lawn directly after mowing it, you could stress out your grass and your lawn could fall victim to fertilizer burn. Instead of fertilizing your lawn right away, you should wait somewhere between 24 hours and a few days. This will give your grass enough time to recover from the stress of mowing and your grass will be ready to absorb and maximize the nutrients from the fertilizer treatment.

It's a good idea to bag grass clippings when mowing before a fertilizer treatment to prevent the clippings from blocking the fertilizer from reaching the soil.

Wait until your lawn starts to green up and grow in the spring before mowing or fertilizing it.

While it can be tempting to mow your lawn and fertilize it as soon as the spring season gets underway, that's not a great idea. Because our winters can be so cold, there's a good chance that the ground will be frozen at the beginning of spring. If the ground is frozen when you mow it, your grass won't start growing again right away, leaving it susceptible to diseases or other stressors. On the other hand, when you fertilize your lawn when the ground is frozen, your grass won't be able to absorb the nutrients. Before performing either of these services, you should wait until your lawn is starting to green up and grow again.

Give us a call to schedule our lawn fertilization service.

At Sharp Lawn Care, we offer a lawn fertilization service that involves multiple treatments throughout the year, including in the spring, to provide your grass with the nutrients it needs to thrive. This service also includes weed control treatments to eliminate these nutrient-stealing plants from your turf. We offer our lawn fertilization service to residential and commercial properties, as well as HOAs, in Sioux Falls, SD, Sioux City, IA, and other surrounding areas in South Dakota, including Tea and Harrisburg. If you're in the Sioux Falls, SD area, you can reach us at (605) 251-6880 to sign up, while those in Sioux City, IA can call us at (712) 253-8024 to get started today!