Almost every homeowner throughout the world has a lawn consisting of some type of grass. The question is, do these homeowners know how to properly maintain and keep their turf looking healthy? I know several people have drove past a neighbor’s house before and thought, “Wow! Their lawn looks great!” I, too, have been envious of a neighbor’s well-maintained grass. This post is going to provide you with some simple and common tips that can help improve the quality of your lawn.
When properly maintaining a lawn, there are some important cultural practices that must be carried out. The biggest factor when establishing your lawn is to choose the proper species of grass that is best adapted for your location. There are two different types of classes of grass. You have the warm season grasses and the cool season grasses. Warm season grasses include types such as bermuda and zoysia grass. Cool season grasses include types such as Kentucky bluegrass and tall fescue. In order to find the right selection for your area you can check with your local cooperative extension agency. Here is a website that provides some general info about turf grass selection HERE.l
The 3 common cultural practices that must be carried out properly for your lawn are mowing, watering, fertilizing.
I’m sure you have mowed your lawn at some point in your lifetime. The key is to make sure you are doing this correct. Maintaining your grass a higher heights provides deeper roots and ensures your grass stays healthier, especially in times of drought or high heat stress. An important tip is to always make sure you don’t cut more than 1/3 of the leaf blade off when mowing. It’s also important to change the direction of your mowing pattern to prevent ruts from occurring. If you have a high level of clippings when mowing be sure to spread them out with a blower or rakes. Thick patches of clipping can kill areas of your lawn or increase disease pressure. Remember, the more you keep up with the mowing of your lawn the nicer it will look.
Additionally, it is important to keep your lawn well irrigated in order to provide a lush green stand of turf. The biggest key when it comes to watering your lawn is proper timing. Water your lawn either in the morning or at night. This is the best timing because this is when wind is the calmest creating good uniformity and there will be a less chance of evaporation occurring. Always be sure to prevent over-watering because this will encourage disease pressure as well. For common home lawns 10-15 minutes of running your irrigation will suffice.
Similar to how humans need food so does your lawn in order to be healthy. Fertilization is basically the feeding of your lawn. The first step to fertilization is choosing a high quality product. Landscape stores can assist you in buying the proper product for your type of lawn. For cool season grasses the best time to fertilize is in the fall and for warm season in the summer. Be sure to always follow the product’s label, which will provide how much product you will need for you sized lawn. The last key tip when applying your fertilizer is to make sure you walk at the same constant speed in order to uniformly apply your fertilizer across your lawn. For more information on fertilization, check out this website HERE.
These are just a few common tips that will help you fulfill your dream of having the best lawn in your neighborhood. For more information on basic lawn care you can click HERE. Feel free to leave comments or concerns on our page. Thanks for reading!
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