A lawn that’s green and lush will create a good impression on your guests and increase the value of your home. Keeping your grass in good condition isn’t easy, however. Here are some tips for looking after your lawn.
Learn To Love Your Lawn
Laying down a new lawn
Autumn is the best time to sew a new lawn when the temperature isn’t too hot nor too cold. You should spend time thoroughly mulching up the earth beforehand so that there are no weeds.
Different types of turf are better suited to different types of soil. This is something you may want to look into first.
An easy option is to buy sod. You can buy this from many garden centers. You should try to leave the grass at first and avoid treading on it for the first few weeks as this will help it to grow.
Get mowing
The most obvious lawncare task is cutting the grass. With the right lawnmower, this can usually be an easy task providing you do it regularly.
Cylinder mowers give the highest quality cut, whilst rotary mowers are best for ornamental lawns. The mechanism can make a big difference as to how easy your yard is to cut.
Hand-push mowers are cheap but hard work. Gas and electric mowers are pricier but easier to mow with.
You should only mow when the grass is dry. Mowing after it has rained could damage the turf.
Mow twice a week in summer and once a week in spring and autumn. You generally don’t need to mow grass in winter as the turf is likely to be more fragile during these months due to the cold temperatures.
Buy a sprinkler for the summer
The extreme heat could start to kill off your grass and make it look patchy. This is because the heat dries up the earth.
Consider buying a sprinkler for your grass to use during these summer months. There are various different types of sprinklers, the most common being fixed ones.
Oscillating and rotating sprinklers can often cover a larger area although are more expensive. During a heatwave, you’re better off sprinkling your yard in the evening or at night when the water is less likely to evaporate. This allows you to maintain lush grass.
Take steps against weeds
Weeds are the bane of many of a gardener and they can quickly overrun your turf if not kept under control. Rosette-type weeds such as dandelions and daisies are the most common types. The most basic and effective way to get rid of these weeds is to dig them out.
However, this can be time-consuming. Many people prefer to use chemical weed-killers as they’re more convenient. These often come as lawn spray liquids. These can spot-treat your lawn or treat the entire lawn. There are also natural weed-killers that you can try using such as boiling water and lemon juice.
Meanwhile, when it comes to moss and other fungi, you’re best using specialist herbicides. Moss is often the result of a lawn being too damp so make sure that you’re not overwatering it.
Pest-proof your lawn
Pests can also destroy your lawn. Animals such as moles may dig up your lawn. Various beetles and grubs will eat away at your grass.
There are a number of chemical pesticides that you can use. However, you should be careful of using these if you’ve got pets or are trying to preserve other forms of biodiversity in your garden.
Fortunately, there are forms of organic pest control out there for keeping your lawn pest-free. Even something as simple as regular mowing and not overwatering your lawn could help to prevent bugs from nesting.
Boost growth with fertilizer
Fertilizers can help to boost the growth of your lawn by giving your grass all the minerals that it needs. This can be especially useful from autumn to spring when the cold temperature is more likely to negatively affect lawn growth.
There are various fertilizers out there to choose from that can be sprinkled onto your grass. The most basic fertilizers can be applied once per year, whilst others can be applied twice or three times per year.
Look into liming
Liming is a process that involves reducing the acidity of the soil. Before applying garden lime, you’ll want to check the PH scale of your soil.
Neutral soil should be PH7. Anything less than this acidic could benefit from liming. Anything above PH7 meanwhile could contain too much alkaline.
In which case you want to apply iron sulfate instead to bring up the acidity. You can buy a PH meter online to help measure this acidity. Garden lime and iron sulfate can also be bought online.
Prevent bogging
Overwatering your lawn will cause the earth to become oversaturated with water. Bogging is sometimes difficult to prevent, especially if you’ve been having a lot of rain and your lawn is on a slope.
Consider ways of controlling run-off. Building soil berms can help to redirect water in the direction you want as can building a dry well.
You can also buy soil drying agents such as calcined clay. However, you should use these products sparingly as frequent use could negatively affect the health of your soil.
Too much time and effort?
Lawncare can take a lot of time and effort. This could be too much for those with busy lives.
There are lawncare services out there that can maintain your lawn for you. Alternatively, you may want to consider switching to artificial grass.
Whilst it may not be the real thing, it won’t require any maintenance and will keep your lawn looking green and vibrant all year round.
