Having a beautiful, lush lawn is a big investment — both in time and money. Sod, fertilizer, lawn maintenance equipment, irrigation systems and even the water itself all require a chunk of change. Once you’ve invested in these items, you need to use them regularly to take care of your lawn. Many homeowners make the investment and end up damaging or destroying entirely the beautiful lawn they hoped to create. Avoid these mistakes and you’ll be on your way to having a healthy lawn.
Soil Conditions
It is important not to neglect your soil or sod quality. Here are a couple tips that can help guide you through this fundamental step of lawn care.
1. Choosing Sod Without Reviewing Yard Conditions
When starting out with your lawn, it is important to consider the right types of sod for your yard. There are various types of sod grasses available on the market, and they all have unique pro’s and con’s. For example, Bermuda grass is quite hardy but needs a lot of upkeep. Zoysia grass is resilient as well and requires a good amount of time to establish. Also, consider different types of sod for different areas of your lawn. Do you have older trees that provide a lot of shade? St. Augustine performs well in shade and may be the best fit around those older trees. Take the time to learn about different types of sod grass to make sure you choose the ones that will thrive in your yard.
2. Disregarding the Soil
Whether you’re dealing with new sod or an established lawn, the soil below it must be healthy in order for it have any chance of survival. So how do you determine if your soil is healthy? Make a trip to your local nursery or home and garden center and pick up a soil testing kit. Most kit instructions will tell you to dig a small hole, fill it with distilled water, and insert a probe to test the pH of the soil. A reading of less than 7 means you have acidic soil, and a reading of higher 7 means you have alkaline soil. The ideal range for most is plants is a pH of 6.5 to 7. If your soil tests in this range, make sure to test several spots to ensure consistency. Soil pH can vary based on the location in your yard. Soils that test outside the optimal range can be amended with various treatments — ground limestone for acidic soil and sulfur for alkaline soil.
Watering Habits
People sometimes assume that when it comes to plants, more water is always better. It couldn’t be further from the truth for grasses. Here are some pointers to make sure your lawn is receiving and absorbing the right amount of water.
3. Infrequent, Heavy Watering is Best for Grasses
Grasses thrive in conditions where they receive large amounts of water in an intermittent fashion, rather than small sips every day. If you think about habitats where natural grasses thrive, it makes sense. Prairies and savannahs where grasses are prevalent don’t get brief rainfall every day — they get infrequent, concentrated periods of rain. Daily watering is detrimental to grasses because it promotes shallow root growth, and shallow roots are more vulnerable to pests and diseases.
4. Early Morning is the Optimal Time of Day to Water
Watering early in the morning will give your lawn all day to absorb water and dry out. Waiting until later in the day or even in the evening can hinder your efforts, as you may lose water due to evaporation and wind. Grasses are also more vulnerable to mildew and fungus when they are wet at night.
5. Make Sure Your Irrigation System is Watering Evenly
You’ve spent all this money on an irrigation system, so why do you still have brown patches on your lawn? Irrigation systems can sometimes water in an uneven manner. Sprinkler heads may not be turning as far as possible. Run a test of your irrigation system by turning it on and placing containers of similar sizes around your lawn. When you turn it off, check the containers to see if they are all receiving the same amount of water. If there are discrepancies, you can attempt to adjust the sprinkler heads yourself or call a professional for help.
Mowing Process
You’ve probably seen your neighbors taking care of their lawns — some are very careful with mowing, edging, etc., and others just rip right through and get it done. Don’t be careless when mowing your lawn. Follow these tips to make sure you don’t damage your lawn while mowing.
6. Keep Lawn Mower Blades Sharpened
Mowing with sharp blades actually cuts the ends of the grass, where mowing with dull blades rips off the ends. Ripping off the ends of grass leaves it open to disease and bacteria, and releases precious water that is circulating through the grass. Mowing with sharp blades has an added bonus as well — less time in the yard for you!
7. Cut No More Than One-Third of Grass Blade Length
Cutting your grass too short has one main advantage — less frequent mowing. Unfortunately, cutting your lawn too short can kill the grass by depriving it of photosynthesis in certain areas. Too much deprivation will cause the grass to pull energy from the root system. Once those roots are depleted, the lawn will start to die. Set the blade height of your lawn mower to cut about one-third of the grass height.
8. Mow the Lawn Only When it is Dry
Mowing your grass when it is wet makes a big mess. The cut grass gets everywhere — all over you and your equipment, and in big clumps on the ground. That big, annoying mess is also harmful to your lawn. Wet clumps can scatter weeds that you desperately want to remove and provide a breeding ground to spread disease. Wait until your lawn is fully dry to mow.
Don’t Make Things More Difficult for Yourself
There is a lot of maintenance involved in having a beautiful lawn. Don’t take it too far though. There are a number of ways that nature will assist you in taking care of your lawn. Don’t thwart the efforts of your ecosystem — let it do some of the work for you. Though it is good to allow nature to help your garden thrive, there are still some things that have to be taken care of by us humans. Don’t let all your good efforts go to waste by leaving these important tasks off your list. Here are a few tips that can help make lawn care easier than you’re probably making it.
9. Leave the Helpful Insects Alone
There are plenty of insects in your yard that make you think twice before going outside — mosquitoes, ants, and maybe the occasional hornet or wasp. Just because these insects are a nuisance doesn’t mean you should get rid of all insects. There are plenty of insects that eat the ones that bother you. Praying mantises, ladybugs, spiders and dragonflies all eat other insects, and you can use specific plants to draw them to your yard. Let these insects naturally take care of other insect pests so you can enjoy your lawn.
10. Don’t Over Fertilize Your Lawn
When it comes to fertilizing, always err on the side of caution. Grasses get a lot of nutrients just from the sun and proper watering. Too much fertilizer can actually turn the grasses brown. Different grass types need differing amounts of nitrogen, so make sure to check your grass types and fertilize appropriately if you’ve got multiple varieties.
11. Remove Weeds Promptly
Removing weeds can seem like an overwhelming task. With thousands of varieties, it’s hard to know what type of weeds you have and the best way to remove them. Removing weeds by hand is one of the most effective (but also the most labor-intensive) solution. There are also numerous natural solutions to use: covering them in newspaper or mulch, sprinkling cornmeal or boiling water, or even torching them with a weed torch. Look up common weed varieties in your area to see if you can identify the weeds in your yard.
12. Decide on a Dog Strategy
Think about how your dog should access your yard. If you’ve ever been to a home with a dog run, you’ve certainly seen a grassless area for dogs to run around in. Repeated coats of dog urine kills grass and their nails scratch the ground. If you want a special area for your dog, consider using mulch in that area instead of sod. Otherwise, let them use the whole yard. If they are doing their business all over the yard, it is less likely to kill one particular area.
13. Move Items Off the Grass
How many times have you left toys or yard tools lying on your grass, only to develop a big yellow patch later (or no grass at all)? Keep all your outdoor items organized on your patio or in a shed. Heavy items left lying on your lawn can kill the grass and compact the soil below.
The best laid plans for a green lawn can go awry in so many ways. Don’t waste your investment of time and money only to have a brown, lifeless lawn. The tips above will give you the best chances for a thriving lawn over the long term.
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