After our long winters, there’s a certain amount of damage sustained by your lawn. But nursing your lawn back to health just takes a few easy steps.

Lorelei Hepburn, a lawn-care expert and former East Yorker, recently spoke to the East York Garden Club. She said that top dressing and over-seeding a lawn are important parts of having a healthy yard.

Hepburn said top dressing is when you put soil and compost on your lawn to regenerate the grass so that there are no thinned out areas.

Another important thing in maintaining a healthy lawn is aeration.

“Aeration is the best thing you can do to your lawn every single year,” Hepburn said.

Aeration is a process by which a machine opens up pores in the ground, allowing the soil to breathe and take in water. Hepburn says it’s important to aerate before you top dress and over-seed.

Fertilizing is another key step to getting your lawn healthy.

Hepburn said it’s important not to put down a heavy fertilizer because it has too much nitrogen, and in the summertime that may be too much stress on the lawn. She advised using lighter fertilizers, such as fish fertilizer.

“Lawns don’t need that much nitrogen. They only need 30 per cent nitrogen all year,” Hepburn said.

A thick, healthy lawn is the best way to reduce weeds and stave off the effects of drought, Hepburn.said. She added that healthy lawns also need to be pest-free, so it’s also important to have nematodes. Nematodes are microscopic parasites that get rid of pests.

“Nematodes – they will not stay in the ground. They will do their job and they will die,” Hepburn said.

Hepburn also said that nematodes don’t live through the winters and summers and need to be put back in spring and fall.

It’s important to know that you don’t always need to spend a lot of money or hire a professional in order to achieve a lush and vibrant lawn. These easy-to-do steps from an expert can make your lawn look good and healthy.