After you chose the perfect lawn, it is time to make it look its best for as long as possible. This is what lawn care is all about. The simple tips that we highlight below are meant to help you do exactly that.
The most important thing with lawn care is making sure that you create a good regular maintenance routine. This is what helps you avoid weed infested, dull lawns. Most of the techniques we present below are suitable during the spring and on autumn lawn so that grass can repair and grow properly during summer.
Remove Moss, Thatch And Weeds
All of these will prevent lawn growth since they block nutrients and air to reach roots.
Weeds
Weeds can appear practically anywhere. They are brought by birds, pets, and even other animals that roam across your lawn. Even you can bring them on footwear or clothes. Lawn weeds will grow as flowers or seed heads.
In order to remove them, the best thing you can do is to just pull weeds out. This should include roots and you can do it by hand. Alternatively, tools are available. In the event that too many weeds are present, you can use low toxicity herbicides.
Thatch
Thatch is organic matter. A layer of it will build up between soil and leaves and is made out of root stems, grass, and leaves. As a result, a blockage appears. It is impossible for nutrients and essential moisture to penetrate the soil to reach lawn roots.
You can easily identify thatch through a visual inspection. Remove thatch with the use of scarification. This is a process through which you rake and then remove mulch. Use a lawn scarifier for an easier removal.
Moss
Mosses are practically non-flowering plants. They are very bad for your lawn since they thrive in all areas that have an excess moisture. This includes low-quality turf and shade. When untreated, moss level increases. The ability of grass to grow will be reduced.
Remove moss by identifying the cause. Then, physically remove moss and monitor the area so it does not come back.
Improve Lawn Drainage
When the lawn has poor drainage, it can easily become waterlogged. This can last for days and your lawn’s health will quickly go down. The main reasons why lawn drainage problems appear are the following:
Soil Permeability
Water absorption is negatively affected by several factors, like thick thatch, clay inside soil, roots, and soil compaction. Based on how extensive the problem is, you can use aeration to improve water and air flow. Alternatively, change your soil to get higher drainage levels.
Garden Topography
The garden’s shape needs to naturally drive the water away with a level, shallow slope. Dips are dangerous because water can pool in a single spot. This will damage roots and grass. Prevent garden waterlogging and whenever you see a problem, fit drains and gutters. These would direct the excess rainfall away from your lawn. You can also add some wet plants that do well in water and can re-shape the entire area by adjusting gradient.
Aerate
Aeration makes it easier for water and air to penetrate grass root zones. This is very important for having the appropriate nutrients reaching the grass. Aeration lets you manage lawns affected by water logging and drought.
You perform this process through the creation of small soil holes. They are done at specific depths and intervals, with the use of garden forks or specific tools. You might even find aerating shoes if you want them.
In most cases, you just need to do aeration once every few years. You can also individually treat small lawn patches whenever needed.
Over-Seeding
With over-seeding, you rejuvenate worn out and tired lawns. The entire space is basically covered with large seed quantities, in a mix with fertilizer. The compound will fill in thinning and damaged areas. At the same time, color is improved and there will be much lower chances that weeds will appear or that moss will invade.
Before seeds would be applied, you should aerate or scarify the area. Then, mow it and water it. You can use spreaders to make the process easier and evenly distribute seeds. After the lawn is seeded, keep it moist so that germination is encouraged. Top dressings will also have to be added to offer nourishment and protect seeds. Maintain a truly healthy lawn by repeating over-seeding every year.
Edging And Mowing
Most people know that mowing is important but did you know that you should only remove 1 third of the length of the grass? Mowing frequency depends on weather conditions and time of year. If the weather is colder, you need less mowing. During summer, more mowing is necessary since grass grows faster.
Do not mow your lawn when the grass or soil is wet. This causes too much damage and healthy growth is prevented. When using mowers with rollers, mowing direction should be alternated every single time you mow.
Watering And Feeding
You can use several fertilizers and grass feeds and you buy these at gardening shops. What you actually need relies on existing weather and soil. Usually, there are clear recommended instructions to respect when you apply such products. Follow guidelines for the best possible results.
The general advice is to treat your lawn two times per year. Use a lawn feed that is nitrogen rich during the spring and a fertilizer that has high potash and phosphate levels during autumns.
Besides feeding, you also need to make sure watering is properly taken care of. Lawns that lack water change their colors and grass will begin to stay flat when you walk on it.
How frequently and how much water you use depends on weather and soil. Make sure you do not over water since this is also problematic.
Top Dressing
You need top dressing for your lawn to improve soil quality. It also helps increase drainage and drought resistance while imperfections are evened out. By now you surely figured out the fact that the type of dressing you use depends on soil type.
Final Thoughts
The tips above will surely help you to get a much better-looking lawn at the end of the day. However, creating a strict maintenance schedule is not something that is easy to do. If you have any doubts, talk to an experienced gardener or landscaper.