The first thing to keep in mind is that Spring isn’t the only, and not always the best time to do prep work. If you need to re-seed bare patches, just before the first snowfall of the year is a good time to start. The seeds will get worked into the soil by the weight of the snow and lay dormant for Winter.

Then, as Spring arrives with the first melt, the seeds will be in good mud and start the early stages of germination. As the sun hits them, you’ll get good, fresh grass in a couple of weeks.

At the same time, since crabgrass and its relatives don’t thrive in the Fall or Winter, you have a head start on that kind of weed control. As the grass continues to spread, it has a better chance of crowding out crabgrass, which may not develop at all.

Then you can apply the recommended Spring fertilizer at the earliest possible week. That helps to give those young shoots a great beginning and, if you use weed control fertilizer, you can solve two problems with one effort.

As that snow continues to melt off you’ll find areas where the grass has become thatched. That’s a condition in which the blades get lain over one another, then compressed from the snow pack on top. Some of them die over Winter. As a result, you have a kind of straw-like covering, hence the name ‘thatch’.

Solving that problem is easy, though. Just cut the grass a little later in Fall than you need to just for length control. That keeps the height down and helps keep thatching to a minimum.

Then, follow up in Spring by raking the grass. Of course, if you raked in the Fall, there won’t be any leaves to get rid of. Nevertheless, this helps pull up thatched areas and allows air to get to the soil.

If the ground has become hard, or the soil is the sort to easily become compacted, you can follow that up with an aeration. There are several ways to do that. You can use a special attachment on a riding lawnmower and run it over the grass. There are also special large-drum rollers with spikes poking out you can use.

A very inexpensive method involves using special shoes, somewhat like golf shoes with spikes on the bottom. You just put them on then walk around the area you want aerate. The shoes make tiny holes that allow air to easily penetrate the soil. At the same time, it makes channels for solid fertilizer pellets to fall into.

After you’ve de-thatched and aerated, your lawn will be in good shape to carry out weed control, seeding, fertilizer application and regular mowing.

Whoever said lawn care was easy?

-The Fixie Chix

Tune into www.Home&YardRadio;.com with the Fixie Chick Saturdays at 10:00am on 950 ESPN for more must have information for your Home & Yard!
Women owned businesses. DIY Home Improvements. Look at my other businesses: http://www.fixinchix.com & Healthy Homes of Rochester http://www.healthyhomesofrochester.com
Well save you money on your home’s energy costs.

Brenna Hartmann also writes for the Democrat and Chronicle’s Living Section in Rochester, NY. In addition she writes monthly for The Property Source Magazine and the Home and yard Handbook which she was the founder and since has sold the handbook entity in order to spend more time with her family and children.

Websites were developed by www.crystal-hosting.netcontact them for all your web development and hosting needs.

For medium holes 1/2” to 3” you will need to get a drywall patch (there are various other methods to repair a hole this size but a drywall patch kit is the simplest). Most of these kits come with a patch that is self adhesive. Simply cut the patch so that it is larger than the size of the hole by about 1” and stick it over the hole (some kits actually enable you to stick the patch through the hole then pull it tight behind the back of the hole enabling you to fill in just the hole). Then you will need drywall compound (which can be found in smaller containers than a gallon) or spackling compound. Using a wide blade putty knife (3” or wider), apply the compound over the patch and a couple of inches surrounding the hole, then after it dries, sand it smooth. You will need to repeat this step a couple of times until you can no longer see where the patch is, sanding after each coat dries. Finally, touch up the paint.

For larger holes 3” and larger it is typically best to replace a section of the drywall. Find where the closest stud is, then cut out a rectangle around the hole including half of the width of the stud. Then, using the cut out piece as a template cut a fresh piece of drywall to fit the hole. Place the drywall in the hole and use drywall screws to attach it to the stud. (It is even better if you cut out a piece that is large enough to expose half of two studs so that the drywall is even firmer in place. Studs are usually positioned 18” apart but could be anywhere between 12” to 24” apart.) Using you “mudding knife” (or large putty knife), apply a thin layer of drywall mud to cover the entire joint. Next, apply paper drywall tape over the mud and using your blade, embed the paper firmly into the mud, scraping off any excess mud. After this dries apply another 2 to 3 coats of drywall mud over the joint tape extending approximately 6” on either side of the joint, sanding between each coat. Once the repair job is smooth you can touch up the paint.

Steve Gunther is the paint professional who started Gunther’s Painting LLC and started http://thepaintprofessional.com/