As winter winds down and spring approaches in Iowa, it's time to start preparing your lawn for the new season. One important step is fertilizing, but before you do, there are a few things you should keep in mind. Firstly, it's best to mow your lawn before applying any fertilizer. This will allow the fertilizer to penetrate the soil more easily without being blocked by overgrowth or debris left over from winter. After you've mowed your lawn, wait 24 hours to a few days before applying your fertilizer treatment to reduce the chances of stressing it out. Just remember to make sure that your grass has fully thawed and started growing again after the winter before beginning any lawn care treatments or maintenance.

Why should you mow your lawn before fertilizing it for the first time in the spring?

Recently mowed, green grass in Des Moines, IA.

When winter rolls around, your grass will be dormant, and its growth will come to a standstill. However, as soon as spring arrives, the soil temperature will rise again, which means that your lawn will start growing once more. While fertilizing it in the spring is essential, you'll want to mow your lawn first. After all, it'll likely have debris and overgrowth across it after winter, and mowing will clear all that up. That way, when you fertilize it in the spring, the treatment can reach and penetrate the soil more easily. This allows your grass to maximize the nutrients from the treatment and get a great start to the new growing season.

Make sure your lawn mower's blades are sharp at the start of the new growing season so they make clean cuts!

How long after mowing do you need to wait to fertilize your lawn in the spring?

In order to get the best results from your spring fertilizer treatment, you may have to wait a little bit between mowing your lawn and applying it. Ideally, you should wait about 24 hours to a few days before applying the fertilizer. That's because you never want to apply fertilizer right after mowing. If you were to apply a fertilizer treatment directly after mowing, it could actually cause stress to your lawn. Instead, you should give your grass a chance to recover from mowing. By giving your grass some time to bounce back from the mowing process, it will become strong enough to handle the application of fertilizer.

You shouldn't mow and fertilize until you notice your grass starting to green up in the spring.

The timing of when you mow and apply a spring fertilizer treatment is important. You don't want to rush out to your yard as soon as the snow melts and try to cut your grass and fertilize it. You'll want to make sure it's starting to green up and grow again before you do anything. Once you notice this, you can safely assume that your grass has emerged from its dormancy and is now ready to tolerate mowing and can absorb all of the nutrients from the fertilizer.

It's always a good idea to pair a pre-emergent weed control treatment with a fertilizer treatment to prevent weeds from sprouting on your lawn!

Schedule our fertilization service by calling us today!

Grass, like any plant, requires regular care to maintain its beauty. Our fertilization program will provide your lawn with the necessary nutrients to keep it healthy and looking great! At A+ Lawn & Landscape, we begin our program from mid-March to April and continue to visit until early December so that it receives the nutrients it needs, plus weed control and other treatments crucial for its success.

Our fertilization program is available to residential and commercial properties, as well as HOAs, in Des Moines, West Des Moines, Ankeny, IA, and throughout the surrounding areas. Give us a call today at (515) 289-2020 to sign up for our professional fertilization service!