Get A Great Lawn With These Easy Tips

May 01st 2020

For many homeowners, a beautiful lawn is the ultimate goal. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to know how to achieve one. These simple tips from Gainesville landscapers will help you keep your lawn looking lush and healthy.

Prevent Weeds Before They Appear

Applying a pre-emergent herbicide will prevent weeds from taking root in your yard. The best time to apply this treatment is after the second mow of the spring. This is particularly effective in preventing crabgrass, which grows from seed scattered in previous years. Because these seeds can stay viable for several years, it’s a good idea to apply herbicide every spring. It’s much easier to fight off crabgrass before it even makes an appearance.

Mow At The Right Height

A common mistake that homeowners make is to cut the grass very short, perhaps in an effort to delay mowing again as long as possible. But cutting grass too short can weaken it. Longer grass offers several benefits as long grass is stronger and grows thicker, which makes it more difficult for weeds to grow. Without access to sunlight, weeds can’t germinate.

Ideal grass height will vary depending on the type of grass. Your local lawn care service can tell you what that perfect height is for your specific lawn. After this, it’s best to mow only frequently enough that you’re never removing more than one-third of the grasses’ height at a time. It’s also important to vary mowing patterns to avoid ruts in the lawn.

Take Good Care Of Your Mower

It’s important to keep your mower blades sharpened. A dull blade will tear grass rather than cut it, leaving ragged edges that turn brown and invite diseases. During the mowing season, it’s best to sharpen the blades once the mower has been used for about eight to 12 hours. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions to learn how to best care for the mower blades.

Water Effectively

It’s tempting to water the lawn every day, but lawn care experts will tell you that it’s far better to water deeply and less frequently. This allows the lawn to partially dry before watering again. Morning is the best time to water the lawn as the sun will dry the grass throughout the day. Watering at night will result in prolonged moisture on the grass, leaving your lawn susceptible to diseases. You’ll know it’s time to water when the lawn starts to look a little gray-ish and the blades don’t bounce back after you walk on them.

A good trick to ensure you’re watering enough is to set an empty can next to a sprinkler and keep the irrigation system running until the can has roughly one-half inch of water in it. For easy watering, consider installing an automatic irrigation system. Once you’ve determined the best watering schedule for your lawn, set a timer and forget about it.

Monitor Shady Areas

It’s likely that not all parts of your lawn receive equal amounts of sun. Monitor how sun and shade play across the lawn during the day, and make a note of which spots stay mostly in the shade or mostly in the sun. This will affect which plants you should place in those areas — while sun-loving plants can thrive with as little as three or four hours of sun, shade-loving plants should only receive about one to two hours of morning sun a day.

Shady areas also have different care needs than sunny areas. Shady areas require less water because the water doesn’t evaporate as quickly, as well as less fertilizer because the grass won’t grow as quickly. Applying too much fertilizer in shaded areas can actually kill the grass faster.

Lawn care can be tricky and overwhelming. To keep your lawn lush and healthy, contact our lawn care experts today to schedule a free consultation.