As a homeowner, what better feeling is there than looking out at your lush, thick, green lawn? Or on the flip-side, how do you feel when you notice your neighbor’s lawn is more green, full, and lush than your lawn? You don’t need to spend an arm and a leg to bring out the full potential of your lawn. Below are several steps to take to bring out the best your grass has to offer. Of course, remember, anything of quality and value takes time and effort.
Lush Lawn Tip #1 – Over-seed, Over-seed, Over-seed
Don’t skimp on over-seeding your lawn in the Spring and Fall. It is easier for new seed to fill in the holes caused by the abuse of winter than for established grass to spread and fill in the gaps. Plus, would you rather have weeds competing in bare spots with establish grass hoping to spread or competing with grass seed already sprouting? Once soil temps are around 55-60 degrees over-seed away. This would equate to about 65-70 daytime air temps.
Lush Lawn Tip #2 – Ensure proper mowing habits are followed
Check out this blog post for more details but to summarize you need to ensure your blades are sharp, you only cut off 1/3 of the total height of the grass at each mowing, and mow in the mid-morning hours after the dew has dried and before the heat of the day sets in.
Lush Lawn Tip #3 – Apply Fertilizer at the appropriate time
You feed your body nutrients, why is your grass any different? Sure, the grass gets its food from nutrients in the soil and we get ours from the grocery store or restaurant (and further upstream from farmers and other food producers of course) but grass can’t go to the lawn grocery store when the ground runs low on nutrients. Nitrogen is the most important nutrient for any lawn but be careful you don’t put too much down, or you’ll be mowing more frequently. Always follow the manufactures instructions on how much to fertilize.
If you have a warm-season grass, like Bermuda, fertilize in the late spring or early summer just as the grass starts to turn green. Another application in the late summer is warranted. If you live in an area where your warm-season grass goes dormant for the winter, it is best to not fertilize after the 31st of August.
If you have cool-season grass, like Fescue, you can fertilize either early Fall when you’re over-seeding or in the early spring.
Lush Lawn Tip #4 – Deep Watering = Deep Roots
The deeper your grass roots are, the more nutrients the plant will have access to and the stronger your grass will be during the hot summer months. Shallow, frequent watering will stress your lawn and once the hot summer sun sets in the grass will thin out. Deep watering will encourage root growth. Therefore, it is important to incorporate Spruce Soil Moisture Sensors into your Spruce Irrigation System, they will give you all the moisture data at the appropriate depth and help you have the right amount of deep watering for your lush lawn.
Lush Lawn Tip #5 – Destroy Weeds
Sure, having the Infinity Gauntlet so you can snap away all the bad things that live in your lawn would be nice, but you’d have to go and find all the scattered Infinity Stones and you don’t have time for that. For weeds put down pre-emergence weed killer and spray for broadleaf weeds every 4 weeks or so. Walk your lawn at least 2x a week and spot-check new weed-growth. Manually pull up some weeds if necessary. Do you see any yellow dandelions? Pull them up and literally throw them in the trash, you don’t need any of those floating seeds in your lawn.
It takes work to create and maintain a good-looking yard. Stay focused and be diligent in providing what your yard needs. If you do, you’ll be rewarded with a great looking yard that you can take pride in.
