Intro
These 6 steps are your road to a perfect lawn. We all love making our neighbors jealous, and the perfect lawn is the best way to make that happen. We all want the greenest grass and the fullest lawn. Follow these simple steps and the perfect lawn is right around the corner.
1. Watering
One of the biggest factors to a green lawn is watering. This is the area that took me the longest to come around to. The main reason is because I thought watering more would make my lawn grow faster and stay greener (which was not the case!). The best way to water your lawn is to water deep 3 to 4 days a week. If you water too much the grass roots will be shallow. Infrequent deep watering will give your grass deeper roots. The deeper roots will help your lawn in the long run and will survive better in the hot summer sun. The best time to water your lawn is early in the morning around 6 am. I like to set watering cycles at 5AM and 6AM to ensure a deep watering.
2. Mowing
Your lawn is not a golf course! Grass height can impact your lawn more than you know. The shorter you mow the more likely you are to destroy your grass. You want to mow your grass high to allow deeper root systems. At each mowing, you should only be removing about the top 1/3 of the grass blade. Fun fact lawn clippings should be mulched back into the lawn. The benefits of mulching lawn clippings are too numerous and valuable to ignore. Recycling grass clippings back into the lawn can account for up to 1 pound of a lawn’s annual nitrogen requirements. A typical lawn needs up to 4 pounds of nitrogen annually for healthy growth.
3. Aeration
Giving your lawn access to more air, water, and nutrients is the key to perfection. Aeration is a treatment used when the soil in your lawn is compacted! The screw driver test is the best way to know if your soil is too compacted (is it hard to stick a 6” screw driver into the ground?). In colder climates aeration is good to do in the beginning of spring and the beginning of fall. You should include fertilization, over seeding, and dethatching to your aeration cycle.
4. Fertilizer
A well-fed lawn is healthier, which means it has a better root system to combat heat, cold, drought, mowing, foot traffic, and other stresses. A good rule of thumb is to fertilize your lawn at the beginning of spring, summer, and fall, to get the best results. There are many ways to fertilize your lawn from water additives to dry powders/Granules. Consult with a professional on what you should use to fertilize your lawn.
5. Overseeding
Every lawn with time will encounter dead spots or even thin spots. Overseeding is the fix for most of those problems. Applying additional grass seed to your lawn has a great impact, such as a thicker lawn, a better appearance, and a reduced risk of pests and disease. Make sure to keep your lawn nice and moist for the first week to have best results with the grass seed taking to your lawn.
The hidden grass killer is thatch. Thatch is the build up of old grass roots and rhizomes. However it’s not the result of leaving grass clippings on the lawn. In fact grass clippings left on the lawn will reduce the amount of thatch. As the clippings decompose they also help decompose old roots and rhizomes. You can typically see the thatch build up and should dethatch in spring to refresh your lawn and bring extra air, water and nutrients to your soil.
Conclusion
The perfect lawn is only 6 steps away. All of these steps make up the perfect combination; Watering, mowing, aeration, fertilization, overseeding, and dethatching. The biggest takeaway from all of this is that in order to have a perfect lawn, it takes work. Once you lay the foundation of these steps, the maintaining is way easier. If you don’t want to do these yourself, seeking a professional to maintain your lawn would be the best plan for you.
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How did these tips help your lawn?
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One Comment
Josh
Love it! 🙌💚