Wake up lawn!!!

So how do I wake my lawn up from it's winter dormancy?  Here are a few simple tips and tricks to help your lawn get off to the right start this spring:

1.  Mowing:  Mow it low for that first mowing of the year (less than 2 inches if possible).  This helps remove some of that winter thatch and let the new growth start to show through.  Hopefully last fall you did the same thing to help prevent excess matting and snow mold issues (shouldn't be too much of a problem due to lack of snow this year).

2.  Snow Mold:  If you do have areas that are matted down or that have pink or grey snow mold, just grab a leaf rake and lightly rake those areas to allow air to penetrate the canopy of the grass and dry up those areas.

3.  Is power raking good or bad?:  Avoid power raking (this method uses sharp blades to slice and remove the thatch).  This can do more damage to your grass than is does good most of the time.  If you need to dethatch your lawn they do make spring tine dethatchers that work adequately and do minimal damage to your turf.  Some lawn mowers offer this service.  A good core aeration will also help.

4.  Core Aeration:  Core aerate your lawn.  If you didn't get a chance to do this last fall then spring is also a great time to have this done.  This helps with thatch reduction and also loosens the soil to allow for better water and nutrient penetration throughout the year.  Very important in high clay soils which we tend to have in certain areas of the Northern Utah.   

5.  Fertilization:  Apply a quality fertilizer to wake that grass up and get it going for the year.  To minimize growth and extend feeding a slow release product should be used which will be helpful especially since the lawn is usually growing fairly fast in the spring anyways.   

6.  Weed Control:  A pre-emergent can be applied early spring to keep weed seeds from germinating, as well as weedy grasses from developing.  If your lawn is healthy and relatively weed free, or newly planted, I would avoid pre-emergents because they can stunt root development and growth a little especially if applied at an incorrect rate.  May is a good time to apply a broad leaf weed killer to your lawn to take care of any weeds that pop up.

Does the warm winter mean more pests? This article seems to think so!

http://www.usatoday.com/weather/climate/story/2012-02-22/warm-weather-bugs-emerge/53225274/1

Keep Mice Out in the Cold Where They Belong!

So what do you do when you have mice making their way inside your home?  First thing you need to do is complete a walk around the exterior.  Look for any areas they could work their way inside (any holes over 1/4 of an inch need to be examined).  Think like a mouse, if you were trying to get inside where would you go?

Hot spots to look at are where any type of plumbing comes into the house like air conditioning lines, gas lines, electrical etc.  Keep in mind, mice are great climbers too.  They can go straight up brick or stucco without much problem so look overhead as you are inspecting as well.   Look at where soffit meets the house for any entry points.  Once they are in your attic they pretty much have free rein and can travel throughout your house.

Another popular hangout is garages.  It doesn't matter how new your house is, most garage doors don't seal well enough to keep them outside.  Check the corners of the doors, a lot of times you can put a piece of steel wool in the corners so the door shuts down on it and excludes the mice out better.  Make sure that even if they can get inside your garage they can't go anywhere else.  Houses with furnaces or water heater rooms out in the garage area usually are not sealed up really well and when mice get in these rooms they come inside where the plumbing or ducts come into the house.

Check all of your door sweeps on your exterior doors and make sure you can't see daylight coming underneath them.  Not only will this help keep mice and insects out of your house but make your house more energy efficient as well.  Mice are flexible little creatures and can flatten out their bodies well to slip under a door if the gap is too big.

Finally, just check everything else.  The area where the siding meets the foundation, especially on the corners where siding end caps are tend to leave some pretty big open areas.  Hopefully even if they can access that area they still can't get in but you never know so check everything out and plug it with steel wool (so mice can't chew through it).  You can fill with expanding foam over the top of the steel wool if the hole is large.  Caulking can also work for smaller gaps but mice can chew through a lot of materials so use steel wool as backing if needed.  Also look at dryer vents, attic vents, crawlspace vents, and other any other vent pipes coming out of your house.  Occasionally mice can also get on top of a structure so they could enter anywhere on the roof where there's a hole.

Try to keep bait outside of the house.  Not only are your asking for trouble if your kids or pet gets into it but you are inviting the mice inside for food, and they may not make it out before they die.  Bait outside of the home along your foundation in areas you feel like may have the most activity.  Make sure the bait is in a locking tamper resistant bait station (you can pick these up at most hardware, home improvement, farm/garden stores) so no one and nothing can get into it accidentally.  Keep the bait fresh and check it on a monthly basis.  If you have rodents inside you can set up cheap snap traps with chocolate chips or peanut butter, or multiple catch mouse traps in active areas to catch any remaining critters.

Best advice, control them from the outside in with exclusion and outside baiting.  If all else fails or you don't want to tackle it yourself call a professional so they can take care of it from start to finish.