Some things to consider when wanting to improve the appearance of your lawn are where you are located, what type of grass is most prevalent, what products you apply or have been applied to your lawn such as insecticides, fungicides, or herbicides, whether your lawn has been fertilized and how often to you water or irrigate your lawn. Others include if you have re-seeded or recently added sod, have had soil tests done on your lawn, and at what height the lawn is mowed and how often. Problems occurring in your lawn might be too much shade, standing water, insects or pests, weeds, moss, rocks, and heavy traffic. If the problem is weeds, determine what type of weeds invade your lawn and how long have you noticed the problem.
When solving a specific problem to make your lawn more beautiful and healthy, decide whether you want to use a synthetic or an organic solution. Take into consideration past efforts to solve the problem, if there were any.
Grass should be mowed at the highest setting or at 3 inches, and each time the grass is mowed it should be cut down about one third of its height. This will give you a good idea of how often you should mow your lawn. Some warm weather grasses such as Bermuda centipede and bentgrass that grow densely need to be mowed at lower mower settings. Make sure to water your lawn deeply and infrequently. Most lawns do best with one inch of water per week. It is best to water all at once instead of over several days. Of course, how much rain the lawn has received must be taken into consideration too.
Because mulching returns nutrients to the lawn, as well as organic matter, it is preferred to mulch your lawn instead of bagging the grass clippings. Mulch also helps to retain water. Sometimes it may be helpful to bag if you have many weeds in which case you will want to get rid of the weed seeds. If your grass has gotten extra long between mowings, it is better to bag also not to create a messy looking lawn. You want your lawn to be free of thatch. Thatch is caused by the grass roots growing too near the surface. By helping with the decomposition process, mulching helps to deter thatch. Grass clippings decompose very quickly because of their high water content.
You may find there are bumpy spots in your lawn while mowing. They can be leveled. One way is to gradually spread about a one quarter inch layer of topsoil or sand in the low spots. Avoid smothering the grass when you do this. If you are concerned about this, then try lifting up the sod and placing dirt underneath and then replacing the sod back making sure not to disturb too many roots in the process. Water the area after this is done.
Aerating your lawn from time to time is a good thing. It improves growth. Core aeration is preferred over spike because it removes small cores of dirt to ease compaction. Spike aeration can compress some types of soil adding to compaction issues. However, if you have grainy or sandy soil, spike aeration is better to use.
When over seeding your lawn, apply a pre-emergent to prevent germination for weed seed germination and allow for grass seed germination. A newer pre-emergent under the name Tupersan is a selective pre-emergent for this purpose.
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