I grew up in a city where the only piece of lawn my family had to take care of was a small strip in front of the house. It was about 2 feet wide and roughly 10 feet long. With a weed wacker it took about one minute and with my neighbor's lawn mower it took about 10 seconds.
It took longer to start the darn lawn mower than to actually mow the lawn. Not sure why my neighbor owned a lawn mower as he had the same amount of lawn as us. I guess can save that for another time.
When I moved away the one thing I always wanted was a nice healthy, lush green lawn. I even made jokes that my lawn is going to look as nice as Yankee stadium. I just won't have to do the YMCA during the 7th inning stretch.
Well my lawn isn't anywhere near what Yankee stadium is but I do take pride in the nice job that I have done. It is lush, healthy and green. Here are some tips I recommend for your lawn. Your care may be different depending on the geographical region that you live in, but the concepts are all the same.
Water
Yes there is a good time to water your lawn and a bad time. The good time is first thing in the morning just as the sun is rising. The bad time is at night. Watering your lawn at night may cause fungus to grow on it. Yes that is a bad thing.
Aeration
Aeration is the process by which you “punch” holes so to speak into your lawn. This allows for an increase of air, nutrients and water to get into the soil in turn strengthening the roots of your lawn. Everything I have read says to do this annually in the early spring.
Grass Seed
I have read and find it best in my own experience to lay down new grass seed in the fall. I put down new grass seed to repair any damaged areas and to make the existing lawn thicker.
Fertilizer
In my area we have a dandelion problem in the spring. So what I do is put down a weed & feed. This product, which is manufactured by a lot of companies, will fertilize the lawn as well as kill over 200 species of broadleaf weeds, one of which is the dandelion. I put this down in early spring before it gets hot and also try to get it down before the dandelion outbreak begins. The same concept holds true if you have crabgrass. Check the recommendation on the back of the product you purchase. I use Scotts, although I am sure other brands work just as well.
So there you have it my tips on a better lawn. These are just a few that I use. If you have some tips that you use feel free to leave a comment with this article for other readers to gain your knowledge.
