A healthy and well-maintained lawn looks and feels like a beautiful, cozy, lush green carpet. Landscape designer Gary Alan is of the opinion that in order to take proper care of your lawn, “You’ve got to be the grass. You’ve got to think about what it needs.” Here are 8 effective tips to get you started.
1. Preparing the soil
Irrespective of the planting method you go for, weeds needs to be eliminated and you also need to ensure that the soil doesn’t turn into crust or lumpy ruts. Also, test the pH of the soil, while adding compost and loam to enrich it. It would be wise to include a slope for better drainage.
2. Seeding or rolling out sod
Placing a carpet of sod is easy but can get quite expensive when you have a large area to cover. So, you can see the area on your own, or go for hydroseeding.
3. Mowing to the proper height
It is a wrong notion that if you cut the grass very short, you won’t have to mow it frequently. Actually, the grass renews faster, so you are left with almost no time between cuts. Mow only one-third grass from the upper level, since taller grass leads to increased root development and also blocks a part of the sun thereby hindering weed growth.
4. Watering adequately and appropriately
Watering deeply and once in a week is good since it helps in deeper penetration of roots and prevents chinch bugs. Water your lawn keeping in mind the soil type: Clay soils retain water for a longer period while sandy soils dry faster and require frequent watering.
If your lawn is newly seeded, water for around 10 minutes daily. Once sprouts arise, water for around 15 minutes.
5. Giving proper nutrition
Fertilize at least twice yearly, during the spring and the fall. If you want, you may add some feeding during the mid-summer. Consider fertilizers that contain iron, copper and sulfur. Adding dolomite lime once in a few years would also be great.
6. Eliminating weeds
Remove weeds naturally without using herbicides. The primary way to do this is to grow grass so healthy that the weeds are automatically choked out. Mowing also helps by eliminating crabgrass and dandelions before they can spread.
7. Making room for adequate air supply
When grass becomes excessively compact, nutrients fail to reach deep inside the root system. That’s when you require aeration, which implies using a simple tool to poke holes within the lawn so that oxygen circulation is enhanced.
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