Month-by-Month Lawn Care Calendar for Southern Wisconsin

A southern Wisconsin lawn needs cleanup in spring, steady mowing at about 3 inches from spring to fall, a watering decision in summer, and its seeding, feeding and aeration in late August and September. RAH Solutions LLC, a family-owned landscaper in Edgerton, plans its lawn work around that rhythm.

Lawns in Rock and Dane counties are cool-season grass: Kentucky bluegrass, fine and tall fescue, and perennial ryegrass. They grow hard in spring, slow down in July heat and grow hard again when nights cool. This calendar follows UW–Madison Extension’s Wisconsin Lawn Care Calendar. As that guide says, weather shifts the dates from year to year, and not every lawn needs every step.

What does a full lawn care year look like in southern Wisconsin?

The year runs from raking in March to a last mow and leaf cleanup in November, with the heaviest lawn work in early fall. RAH Solutions uses the table below as a planning guide for lawns, beds and hard surfaces.

Lawn timings follow UW–Madison Extension’s Wisconsin Lawn Care Calendar. The highlighted rows are the most important weeks of the year for a thin lawn.

What should you do for the lawn in March and April?

Wait until the snow is gone and the ground has dried, then rake off leaves and winter debris and look for damage. RAH Solutions starts spring cleanups on that cue, because working soft, wet turf leaves ruts.

Raking shows what winter did. Matted circular patches are usually snow mold, and narrow winding trails in the grass are from voles. UW–Madison Extension’s advice for both is to rake the areas out and reseed where needed. The spring yard cleanup checklist puts the whole job in order, and spring yard cleanup is the service if you would rather hand it off.

Crabgrass preventer is optional. The Extension calendar says to skip it if crabgrass has not been a problem before. Where it has, the product goes down as soil temperatures near 60 degrees for several days in a row, and blooming forsythia is the usual reminder. Do not use it on areas you intend to seed that spring unless the label allows it.

Spring is also when frost damage to hard surfaces shows up. If the front steps scaled or sank over winter, the guide to repairing or replacing concrete steps explains how to tell a patch from a tear-out.

When should you start mowing, and how high?

Start mowing when the grass is growing and the ground is firm, and hold the height at about 3 inches all season. RAH Solutions follows the one-third rule on every cut: never take off more than a third of the blade.

UW–Madison Extension adds three points. Do not make the first mowing excessively short. Return the clippings all season. Raise the mower to its highest setting before summer heat arrives. In May growth is fast, so sticking to the one-third rule can mean mowing more than once a week. That is the main reason people hire out residential lawn care.

If you fertilize in spring, the Extension calendar says to wait until at least the second mowing and to avoid heavy rates. May is also bed season. Once beds are edged and weeded, work out how much mulch you need before ordering, or have it installed through mulching services.

How should you water a Wisconsin lawn in summer?

Give the lawn about one inch of water a week, counting rain, or let it go dormant and leave it alone. RAH Solutions suggests choosing one approach before dry weather starts and staying with it.

To keep a lawn green, UW–Madison Extension recommends watering early in the day, deeply enough to reach the roots, and measuring with a few containers set on the lawn. On heavy soil or slopes, split the water into two applications so it soaks in. Frequent light watering encourages shallow roots.

Dormancy is a fair choice. Kentucky bluegrass can sit brown for several weeks and recover. The Extension’s summer guidance is that once a lawn has gone brown it is best not to water it, apart from a small amount every two weeks or so in a long drought. A dormant lawn does not tolerate traffic.

Summer is a good time to plan hard-surface work for fall. If a patio is on the list, the comparison of a paver patio and poured concrete covers how each handles Wisconsin frost.

Why is late August to mid-September the most important stretch?

Late August into early September is the best time of year to seed, sod, repair, fertilize and aerate a Wisconsin lawn. RAH Solutions schedules lawn restoration for these weeks.

• Seeding. UW–Madison Extension puts the window at late August to early September, stretching to about September 10 to 15 for most of the state. Seed has to touch soil to grow.
• Fertilizing. The Extension calendar names September 1 to 15 as a key time for nitrogen on all lawns and advises against mid-fall applications.
• Aeration. Fall is an excellent time to core aerate, when the soil is moist. The plugs stay on the lawn.
• Grubs. Peel back the turf at the edge of a brown patch and look before treating anything. The Extension does not suggest preplanned insecticide applications.

The details are in the guide on when to aerate and overseed in southern Wisconsin. For a new lawn or a full redo, compare sod and seed for a Wisconsin lawn. Sod installation stays an option later into fall as long as the sod can be watered.

What needs to happen in October and November?

Keep mowing until the grass stops growing, keep leaves from matting, and get everything off the lawn before snow. RAH Solutions handles this as fall yard cleanup.

October still has work in it. UW–Madison Extension considers the whole month suitable for core aeration and calls fall the better season for spot treating dandelions and other perennial broadleaf weeds, while they are still growing. It warns against fertilizing in early to mid-October, which can push soft growth that is prone to winter damage and snow mold.

A thick mat of leaves left over winter smothers turf and encourages snow mold, so clear leaves before the first lasting snow. Do not let the lawn go into winter excessively tall either, because that gives voles cover.

Dormant seeding in very late fall is a fallback, not a plan. The Extension calendar says results are variable, that it depends on snow cover lasting all winter, and that it is not suggested in most instances. A bare area missed in September is usually better sodded or seeded the following spring.

Winter: snow prep and what to leave alone

Winter lawn care is mostly preparation. RAH Solutions sets up snow removal accounts before the season, so November is the time to settle who plows and where the snow goes.

Before the ground freezes, mark the edges of the driveway and walks so a plow stays on the pavement and off the turf. Read what to ask before signing a snow removal contract before you agree to terms. If concrete was poured this year, the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association advises using no deicing salt on it during the first year. Use clean sand for traction instead. Then leave the lawn alone until the snow melts and the ground dries in March.

Sources: UW–Madison Extension, Wisconsin Lawn Care Calendar, Summer Lawn Care Strategies and Timing Questions for Fall Lawn Care; National Ready Mixed Concrete Association, CIP 2: Scaling Concrete Surfaces.