When some people think of lawn care, most of them think only about watering the grass and mowing the lawn. But, what you should know is that there are other things that you must take into consideration if you want to maintain the look of your lawn throughout the season.
Proper lawn care basically involves various things. Whether you prefer taking care of your lawn on your own or hire professionals, like YardSmart, to help you, below are some of the ways on how you can maintain your lawn year-round:
Consider Deep Watering Your Lawn
Deep watering may help develop deep roots, which tap into the subsurface water supplies. On the other hand, light sprinkling of water only moistens the soil surface and the grass, which can encourage shallow root growth. It may also require more frequent watering.
Generally, lawns require 1-2 inches of water every week, which should be done at 3 or 4-day intervals. However, it may vary depending on the soil conditions, temperature, and type of grass. In sandy soils, lawns may require twice as much water because they easily drain. In slow-draining clay soil, lawns may require half as much.
Once your lawn loses its resiliency, if it bounces, or if it wilts, it requires watering. Generally, when watering your lawn, make sure to moist 4-5 inches of the soil.
The perfect time to water your lawn is early morning. At this time, less water is lost due to evaporation and the water pressure level is high. Your lawn also has a lot of time to dry out before the evening. A lawn that remains wet overnight is more susceptible to diseases caused by other fungi and mold.
Mow Your Grass
The most time-consuming activity when it comes to lawn care is mowing. Regardless of what kind of grass you have, it’s crucial to have a sharp mower blade. This will let you cleanly cut the grass and won’t tear them, which may create an opening for diseases and pests to enter. It’s also the key to know the right mowing height for the type of turf you have.
For warm-season grasses, the height of turf may differ depending on the type of grass, which may cover a range of 1 to 4 inches.
If you’re unsure about the kind of grass you have, make sure to research it to know how to maintain it at an ideal height.
Be Cautious of Scalping
When it comes to bunch grasses, cutting the grass too short may cause fatal damage. Once individual grass plants were scalped, they need to use food reserves stored in the roots to regenerate plants. Depending on the health of your lawn and season, full recovery is impossible. So, don’t get rid of more than 1/3 of the total length of your grass blade at a single cutting.
Be Aware of Your Irrigation Needs
Every lawn has different irrigation needs, which may vary depending on the grass type. Generally, warm-season grasses require about 20% less water compared to the cool-season types. For instance, if your tall fescue is healthy, it creates a deep root system, which provides it with the highest drought tolerance in comparison to some cool-season grasses.
On the contrary, warm-season grasses, such as zoysia, centipede, and Bermuda also develop deep and strong root systems that allow them to withstand drought. Kentucky bluegrass and other grasses may go dormant during drought season and can be revived once the irrigation returns.
Know When to Apply Fertilizers
Depending on your lawn’s grass type, the timing for fertilizers may vary. Generally, you might want to feed a lawn as it enters its peak growth. Fertilizing adds nutrients to your soil, providing the nutrients that grasses require.
If you’re mowing regularly, your grass may grow quickly, which only means that it requires more nutrients than average plants. Your soil may provide nutrients for native plants, but it may require some help when feeding your grass.
The best and most effective way of fertilizing your lawn is to spread commercial fertilizers once or twice every year. When compared to a water-soluble spray fertilizer, which acts on the leaves directly, a granular fertilizer releases the nutrients gradually for several months.
Once you spread it during the fall season, it can strengthen the root structure of the plant, which can make it more resistant to the weeds and resilient to drought. You may also add a natural fertilizer, like manure and compost.
Pay Importance to Weed Control
Weed control can help you maintain a healthy lawn. Grasses, like modern mixtures, are highly competitive and could crowd out the majority of the weeds.
If there are weeds on your lawn, spray them with an herbicide. Choose the one with a low toxicity level and never spray it throughout your lawn unless the weeds are all over your lawn.
Aerate Your Lawn
This can help improve the health of your lawn immensely by creating holes in the soil, which enable grassroots to get water, fertilizer, and oxygen. Aeration also lessens the soil compaction and improves root growth.
Fight Disease
Usually, a diseased lawn is due to fungi feeding on the grass plants. A healthy grass stands up to fungus well, but it develops every now and then.
Use a fungicide to fight widespread or persistent fungi. You can purchase a fungicide at any local store. Just choose the one that’s proven to be effective and won’t cause more harm to your lawn.
Deal with Pest Problems Properly
Pest problems may vary from one region to another. Lawn grubs, Japanese beetles, and chafer are the major pests that concern people living in Arizona, California, Midwest, and Northeast. In Texas and Southeast region, mole crickets are always on the list. In the Pacific Northwest, the common pest bugging problem includes the European crane fly.
Like weed control, if you want to maintain your lawn throughout the year, you should also pay importance to pest control. You can treat pest infestation by spraying an insecticide.
Conclusion
If you don’t know what you’re doing, lawn care can be complex. Fortunately, there are many ways on how you can care for your lawn effectively and maintain its look. Aside from watering your lawn regularly, you have to consider fertilizing and mowing it.
If you don’t want to ruin your lawn just because you don’t know how to do the things mentioned above, always rely on the service of a good lawn maintenance company.
