Lawn Care Tips

A large part of your yard will be covered in lawn which is why you need to know how to correctly care for your grass. There are a number of tips that you need to consider which can help you maintain a healthy lawn with minimal effort. These tips will cover the basics of mowing and much more.

A mistake that many people make when mowing their lawn is scalping it. This is when you cut the lawn too short and it can cause major problems. When the blades are cut too show it leaves the lawn vulnerable to weeds and diseases. A scalped lawn will also have problems with the roots because they are exposed to the elements.

Cutting your grass too short will also leave to exposed soil in your lawn and sparse growth. When you consistently cut your grass too short, you will make it more vulnerable to drought and high temperatures. Weed seedlings will also have more access to light which will boost their growth and make them harder to control.

To ensure that you are getting the best results from your mowing, you need to keep your lawn mower in good condition. A sharp mower blade will cut the grass cleanly which is important for healthy lawn. When you have a dull blade, the grass will be cut with uneven edges which can tear. These tears will create openings in the grass which increases the risks of disease and pests.

Over time, mowing your lawn with a dull blade will result in a brown or white hue on the grass blades. This is a sign that the tips of the grass have died and this damage can reach deep into the lawn. This is why it is recommended that you sharpen your mower blade a few times during the mowing season. You should also avoid mowing stones and thick branches which will damage the blade.

There are going to be parts of your lawn that grows in shaded areas. This grass will need to be mowed differently to the rest of the lawn because of the limited light that it receives. The lawn in these areas should be mowed at a higher height.

This is important because longer blades of grass will have more surface area for photosynthesis. As these blades will not get as much sun, the increased surface area ensures that they get the nutrients that they need to grow correctly.

When you water your lawn, you need to do this correctly to ensure that the water reaches the roots. You should actually water your lawn only once a week, but when you do, you should water deep. Soaking the lawn in water will ensure that the water reaches the roots that are deep in the soil.

When you do not water deeply, you increase the thatching of your lawn which is when you have a web of dry runners just above the soil. Deep watering of your grass will also prevent chinch bugs which are the pests that attach to the dried and stressed areas of your lawn. It is important to note that these pests are generally found in the midsection of the country, but they could infest lawn in other areas as well.

If you have a newly seeded lawn, you should look at watering it every day for only 5 to 10 minutes. Your goal at this time will be to dampen the seeds without creating any runoff which might wash them away. Once the seeds have sprouted and reached a height of half an inch, you can start increasing the time to 15 to 20 minutes.

While your lawn is able to create its own nutrients, it is recommended that you fertilize it twice a year. The best time to do this will be in the spring and the fall, but you can also include a mid-summer feeding as well. When you look at fertilizing your lawn, you do need to be careful and choose the right fertilizer as the common NPK fertilizers will not provide your lawn with what it needs. You should look at getting a fertilizer that has micronutrients such as iron, sulfur and copper.

In addition to fertilizing your lawn, you should look at applying dolomitic lime every few years. This is due to the fact that water and fertilizer will make the soil acidic over time and lime will restore a balanced pH level. Of course, there are some areas where the soil is naturally alkaline and you will not have this problem, but you will need to test the soil pH level to be sure.

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