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"Most homeowners dream of a thick, healthy lawn, but acheiving golf course-worthy greens is easier said than done\u2014right? Actually, according to the expert we interviewed, it&amp;#039;s easier than you might think.   It seems like every year we&amp;#039;ve owned our house we&amp;#039;ve undertaken another substantial landscaping project. We&amp;#039;ve cleared brush, we&amp;#039;ve pruned trees, we&amp;#039;ve planted and replanted shrubs, we&amp;#039;ve nurtured groundcover, we&amp;#039;ve established perennial borders, we&amp;#039;ve mulched and mulched and mulched again. Still, in season six of The Victory-Still-Seems-Really-Far-Off Garden, there&amp;#039;s one major landscaping element crying out for our attention: the lawn. Besides throwing some grass seed at a couple of bare spots a few years ago, I have to admit we&amp;#039;ve largely ignored our lawn\u2014probably because we assumed that improving it would be a heck of a lot of work. But our years of benign neglect (on top of the years of neglect that preceded ours) have created a yard that&amp;#039;s lumpy, patchy, and plagued by weeds like crab grass, dandelions, and ground ivy. So this is the year we initiate Operation Emerald Aisle. To get some inside information on just how to go about improving our little patch of green (and to give the rest of you some tips on spring lawn chores, from basic maintenance to more serious solutions) I spoke to Susan Littlefield, Horticultural Editor of the National Gardening Association. Here&amp;#039;s what she told me. 1. Rake. If your lawn is in pretty good shape, all you need to do each spring is rake it firmly but gently, to perk up the grass and get it growing again. Wait until the soil is fairly dry to do this, so you don&amp;#039;t compact it. Then, after you&amp;#039;ve mowed a couple of times, apply a basic fertilizer (unless absolutely necessary, protect the environment by avoiding fertilizers that contain phosphorus, says Littlefield). That&amp;#039;s it. Other than mowing and hand-weeding if you spot a dandelion or two, you&amp;#039;re done until fall. 2. Test. If, on the other hand, you&amp;#039;ve got a problem lawn\u2014thin or patchy, for example\u2014you should start with a soil test. Call your local Cooperative Extension office to find out where you can have this done. Once you understand your soil, you can add nutrients as needed, and then fill in with seed (add a layer of compost to bare spots to augment the soil, then seed and water), or attack weeds (see #3, below). 3. Treat (or seed). If weeds are your problem, you may want to apply a pre-emergent herbicide in early spring\u2014around the time the forsythia is blooming. This will control annual weeds like crabgrass. But you can&amp;#039;t apply this type of weed-control product and seed; the herbicide will kill the new grass. So pick your battles. You can always seed in the fall. For non-grassy weeds like dandelions, apply an herbicide designed to control broadleaf weeds. If, like Littlefield, you&amp;#039;d prefer not to apply chemical herbicides to your entire lawn, you can pull them by hand, spot-treat with a non-selective herbicide, or just live with a few weeds in your otherwise-pristine lawn. 4. Mow. Taller grass is usually healthier, says Littlefield, so keep your mower blade at a height of between 2 1/2 and 3 inches. Mow frequently enough that you&amp;#039;re only removing 1/3 of the lawn&amp;#039;s height each time; that&amp;#039;s less shocking to the grass, and creates clippings that are small enough to decompose easily. Don&amp;#039;t bag or rake those clipping. Studies have shown that leaving grass clippings in place to degrade into the soil may allow you to cut your fertilizer use by as much as half, says Littlefield. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/home/decorating-ideas/a24127/lawn-tips-spring/>