Pier Hutton, Franke Otte Nursery manager, cares for pansies at the nursery.

Photo by Joe Imel

Spotty brown lawns across southcentral Kentucky wont be suffering from the winter blahs much longer if people start giving them proper care now, experts say. This time of year is the best time to do seeding or renovating, as far as changing existing grass, like fescue or rye grass, said Michelle Johnson, horticulture agent for Warren County Cooperative Extension Service. Its also the perfect time to plant cold-tolerant flowers like pansies and ranunculus, said Pier Hutton, nursery manager for Frank Otte Nursery on Scottsville Road. By following a few lawn-care and gardening tips, lawns should be lush, green and dotted with colorful flowers by summer, Johnson said. But there is an order to things. Johnson suggested seeding your lawn first. You can rent a seeder from a garden center or you can purchase a real small, inexpensive one, she said. You can buy seed by bulk from any garden center. Unless your grass hasnt been growing well through the years, its best to reseed your lawn with the same kind of grass that youve always had, Johnson said. If you dont know Kentucky Bluegrass from tall fescue or perennial rye grass the three most common types of grass growing in southcentral Kentucky someone from the extension office can identify your grass if you take some sprigs to the office. Once seeding is completed, both Johnson and Hutton suggested spraying some kind of crab-grass control on your lawn. Controlling broadleaf weeds, such as thistles and dandelions, with a herbicide specifically designed to combat such nuisances also is important, Hutton said. Products on the market can control weeds while fertilizing grass, she said. Johnson suggested waiting until May and June to use fertilizer alone. A lot of people think its time to start fertilizing now, but its not, she said. You dont want to fertilize too heavy in spring because it can cause too many weeds. To get a jump on fertilizing, Johnson suggested having a soil test done on a cup of dirt from your lawn at this time of year. This tells you if theres any fertilizer or lime that needs to be added (to the lawn) and what quantities (you will need), she said. Someone from the extension office will analyze cups of soil brought into the office for $5.25 each. Johnson said its important to have a soil test done each year because a yards needs change because of drought and other weather conditions. Having a soil test done could save the do-it-yourself gardener some big lawn-care dollars. You can save money in the long run because youre not buying fertilizer (you) dont need, she said, adding that the same goes for lime. Once seeding, weed control and a soil test are complete, it should be time to start planting in springs increasingly warm weather. But be warned. A killing frost means replanting, Johnson said. If youre sure the frost will not kill your plants, right now its a good time of year to be putting trees and shrubs in, Hutton said. Its also the time of year to be spraying fruit trees for disease and insect control, Frank Otte Nursery office Manager Amy Caudill said. Dont forget to improve areas where youll plant flowers. Wake up your planting beds with a mix of peatmoss, cow manure, bone meal and a soil-moisture solution you can buy at a nursery, said Ray Rock, a store merchandiser for Lose Brothers, a company that sells garden chemicals and other products to Frank Otte Nursery. Its especially good on things like New Guinea impatiens, Rock said. If youre interested in home-grown fertilizing this summer, now is the time to get a compost heap started, Hutton said. Start by throwing in old scraps from wintertime potato scraps and vegetables, she said. Anything that will decompose leaves, vegetable peels, old plants from last year. You can add soil and manure to your compost pile and it eventually will decompose. It will make a nice soil that has decomposed material in it, Hutton said. You can add that to your bed. Johnson said naturally decomposing material such as leaf mulch, which Western Kentucky Universitys farm sells, also works well in compost piles. It makes your soil a lot easier to work with, she said. It makes it aerated real loose and it will hold water better this summer. If youve already got a compost pile, its time to turn the pile with a shovel or pitchfork, Hutton said. Its also time to start mulching, gardening experts agreed. As far as making your yard pretty while you wait for summer, Hutton said it is important to remember to pinch off the tops of cold-tolerant flowers, such as pansies, that have gone to seed or are just beginning to go to seed. This will allow the flowers to regenerate new flowers faster this spring. Adding a few sprigs of well-rooted ivy to a pot of pansies or other spring flowers will make a lush display, Hutton said. If you dont know how to pot such a plant or have other springtime gardening questions, many gardening experts are happy to answer questions at no charge.