Spring Lawn Care in Saskatoon – How to Wake Up Your Lawn After Winter
Saskatoon winters can be really hard on lawns, but having a focused spring routine helps grass recover, thicken up, and fight off weeds for the rest of the season. The steps below build on your outline and are based on what actually works in our local conditions, not just general advice.
1. Start with a good cleanup
Once the snow is finally gone and the ground feels firm — not soft or muddy — it’s a good time to gently rake up leaves, sand, and dead grass so new shoots can come up easier. Raking too early, while the soil is still wet and spongy, can pull up healthy roots, which you really don’t want. A good rule is to wait until your footprints aren’t leaving deep dents.
Pay extra attention to matted areas where snow piled up. These spots stay wet longer and are more likely to get disease. Any clean debris (no herbicides or obvious disease) can usually go right into the compost.
2. Check for winter damage
As the lawn dries out, take a slow walk around and look for matted, grey, or tan patches. These can be signs of snow mold or spots where snow and ice sat forever. In most home lawns, snow mold doesn’t completely kill the grass, it just thins it. A light raking and better air flow often helps it bounce back.
Mark thin or clearly dead spots so you remember where to overseed later in spring, once soil temps are warm enough (about 10 °C soil and 15 °C daytime air). Early scouting also helps you notice vole trails or low areas that might need topdressing.
3. Get ahead of early-season weeds
Cool-season weeds like dandelions and chickweed usually show up before your lawn is fully green. They wake up fast in cool soil and can steal light, water, and nutrients right when your grass is already stressed from winter.
An early-season weed control treatment, timed once the lawn is actively growing, can stop these weeds before they spread too much. When you combine weed control with proper mowing height and spring feeding, the lawn fills in faster and leaves less room for weeds later on.
4. Feed the lawn at the right time
Try not to rush fertilizer the minute the snow melts. It’s better to wait until the grass is clearly growing and has been mowed at least once or twice. That way, the roots are active and actually able to use the nutrients.
Around Saskatoon, fertilizing usually makes more sense from late April into May, depending on how the spring weather is going. A balanced spring fertilizer helps the lawn recover and build stronger roots. Too much nitrogen too early can cause weak, overly lush growth and even make lawns more prone to issues later. Always follow label rates and water it in so you don’t burn the grass.
5. Overseed bare and thin spots
Once daytime highs are regularly around 15 °C and soil temperatures are close to 10 °C, overseeding gets a lot more reliable. Lightly rake or loosen thin and bare spots so the seed actually touches soil. If the ground is really hard, adding a thin layer of compost or topsoil can help more than people think.
Use a good quality cool-season blend that handles Prairie weather and spread it evenly. Keep those areas consistently moist (not soaked) with light, frequent watering until seedlings reach about 7–10 cm tall. After that, you can slowly switch to deeper, less frequent watering.
6. Set your mower up for success
Before the first cut, it’s worth sharpening or replacing mower blades. Dull blades tear the grass instead of cutting it clean, which makes the lawn lose more moisture and can open the door to disease.
Set your mower height around 7–8 cm (about 3 inches) for cool-season lawns. Mowing higher shades the soil, helps roots grow deeper, and naturally reduces weed pressure by blocking light from weed seeds. Try to follow the one-third rule too — never remove more than the top third of the blade at once. It keeps the lawn less stressed during this important recovery time.
You can definitely handle a lot of these spring tasks yourself. But getting professional help with early weed control, fertilizing, and overseeding can speed up recovery quite a bit, and makes it easier to head into summer with a thick, green lawn instead of playing catch-up.