Your front yard can improve or detract from your home's exterior. A well-manicured yard with vegetation and trees, and a lawn without weeds and overgrowth, will make your home look tidy and well-maintained. Improving a neglected lawn is one of the best ways you can improve your front yard's appearance, and spring is a good time to do this. Here are some tips to help make this improvement.

Prepare the Site

If you have a weed-infested lawn that is bumpy and filled with holes, or your front yard only contains weeds, it is best to remove the top layer of soil and vegetation and start over with a new soil foundation. Use a bobcat to remove the top layer of soil and vegetation growth so you can replace it with several inches of new screened soil. This will also reduce the amount of weeds and their seeds that are present in your yard's top soil to help grow a new, healthier lawn.

You can hire a professional landscaper to remove the old ground and apply the new layer of soil in an even manner. It is important the soil be devoid of rocks and be set as smoothly as possible. Any holes in the ground will remain even after you grass and other vegetation.

Select the Lawn

Choose the plants you want to grow in your front yard. Depending on the amount of shade in your front yard and the climate in your area, you should choose a type of lawn or a combination mixture to best grow in your front yard. For example, if your front yard has a large amount of trees that provide shade, you will want to choose a lawn that is able to grow in shady conditions, such as zoysia or St. Augustine.

Also, decide if you want to plant your lawn from grass seed, such as with a hydro-seed application, or if you want to install the lawn from sod. You can also apply loose grass seed over your soil manually. However, because grass seed can blow away in the wind and wash away in wet conditions, you should apply a layer of peat moss with your seed application. Be sure to follow watering instructions daily to make sure your new sod or lawn seeds take root and grow properly.

Install An Irrigation System

It can be helpful to have an irrigation system in place before you install a new lawn. An automatic sprinkler system is helpful to keep your seeds moist while they germinate and take root, or for your sod's roots to successfully grow into the soil. Most newly-installed lawn systems require you to water them several times each day to ensure their success.

For more information, talk to businesses like Red Moon Landscaping.