Lawn Care FAQ

Posted on 22nd June 2010 by admin in Lawn Care Tips

Q: How often should I cut my lawn?
A: As part of quality lawn care, regular cutting with a mower should be observed and the grass should be cut to an even height. Cutting your lawn once per week should be sufficient.

Q: What is the purpose of raking my lawn?
A: This is commonly done in order to remove dead grass. Many people only rake their lawn in the fall as the leaves begin to cover their yard, but a part of effective lawn care requires that lawns by raked during other seasons as well.

Q: Does lawn care require that I water my lawn?
A: Not everyone does this, but it is recommended that lawns be watered in order to avoid having the grass to dry up and turn brown. If this happens, you could be left with brown spots in your yard.

Q: I have a dog and he is wreaking havoc on the yard. How can I replant my lawn with success?
A: Dogs and lawn care are not the best match, but they can work together. When you replant your lawn, consider using seeds that are specifically designed for high traffic areas. Other factors that may worsen the effect that your dog is having on the lawn may include a chain dragging the grass and exposing the dirt surface below or if your dog is prone to digging.

Q: Should I use harsh chemicals on my lawn in order to rid it of pests and insects?
A: Many experts agree that this is a bad idea for several reasons. If you have children who play in the yard, this may be unhealthy for them. The same is true of pets, who make it a habit of digging or even eating grass at times. In addition, harsh chemicals often do more harm than good to your lawn and are certainly no friend of the environment. Instead, try a bug light or other means of ridding your lawn of insects and other pests.

Lawn care is a very big industry, which services millions of people every year. Whether you do not have the time to care for the lawn yourself or simply aren’t up to the task, there are a number of landscaping experts that are readily available to help with lawn care needs. These are commonly found in the yellow pages under Landscaping and most businesses can provide you with an instant quote over the telephone if you have detailed information regarding your specific lawn care needs.

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How to Plant Grass Seed

If you have a new home and this is the first lawn a few things are different. Mainly all you will have to do is clean up and get the proper grade before working on seeding.

Once this is done you will have to till up the ground to make a soft seed bed. After tilling fertilize, and seed just as described above using the same amount of grass seed. Then, cover the entire lawn with straw.

Shake out straw to cover approximately 50% of the soil from view. After done you should be able to look down and still see about half of the soil showing through the straw, no more. This equates to about 100 bales per acre.

After you’re done laying down the straw it’s time to start wateringyour grass seed. Soak the lawn until runoff the first watering, followed by daily watering of sufficient length to keep the soil moist. If it dries out, the grass seed won’t germinate. Another option for your new lawn is to buy patches of sod. Sod can be a quick answer to aesthetic beauty, but be prepared to pay a pretty penny for this choice.

There are two integral elements of growing and maintaining a lush, green lawn. Those elements are watering and fertilizing.

This is a very important part of caring for your lawn grass.

 You won’t have that beautiful grass carpet you desire in your yard if you don’t give it a proper watering on a regular basis. This schedule, of course, depends on the climate in which you live.

Do some research on how much rainfall your area has gotten in the past and how much is expected. The type of weather in your area will determine what type of watering system will be best for you. If you live in a dry climate, you may need an irrigation system or automatic sprinkler system.

In fact, underground automatic sprinklers are the recommended way to water lawns. When you have such a system, watering is done when it needs it on a regular basis. You won’t have to mess with hoses or wasting water since all watering is done with a timer. However, these types of systems are quite costly and just may not be an option for you.

Most people will use commercial lawn sprinklers that can be purchased quite cheaply at any discount or home store. When you use regular lawn sprinklers, be sure to move them to different places in your yard so that the entire lawn is watered evenly. If you don’t do this, you will have some spots without water and your lawn will look uneven.

Take care that you don’t over water. Over watering your lawn causes more damage than a lack of water. That’s because most turf grasses can handle dry spells, but not flooding.

Most grasses require 1 – 1.5″ of water per week. This is enough water to moisten the soil to 4 – 6″ below the surface for clay soils and 8 – 10″ for sandy soils. Of course, natural rain will provide some of your watering needs.

Don’t guess at how much water your grass lawn is getting. Invest in a rain gauge for measuring Mother Nature’s water contribution. If at the end of the week she’s contributed enough, hold off adding more. If she comes up short, you’ll want to add some supplemental wateringto your lawn. Again, measure how much water your lawn sprinkler is putting down. You’ll have to follow local regulations when there are watering bans, but just remember that less water is acceptable and grass is a very resilient plant. When the rains do return your lawn will come back with a little encouragement on your part.

As a note, you can make a type of irrigation system on your own for lawn watering by taking a simple garden hose and poking holes in it at consistent intervals. Remember, though, that you’ll need to move the hose periodically to ensure consistent watering.

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When is the best time to plant grass seed (Part II)?

When is the best time to plant grass seed. Follow these tips for grass seed planting success.

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When is the best time for growing grass from seed?

When is the best time for Growing Grass from Seed?
Any time you are ready and can work comfortably outside!

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5 Steps To A Better Lawn And Garden

If you a’re lucky enough to have a grass lawn with a good topsoil base, much of the hard work of keeping your lawn beautiful is already done for you. But many of us do not have this luxury, and besides, even with a good topsoil base, you still have to work hard to keep a beautiful lawn and garden.

1. The best time to mow a lawn is when it is cool and dry. Wait for the morning dew to dry off, and before the afternoon heat takes hold. Alternatively, late afternoon or early evening following a watering in the morning is also a good time.

2. A hedge is a much better boundary divider than a fence. It will provide better privacy and keep pets and children in – or out. It will attract birds to its shelter, and provide a great backdrop for plants and flowers.

3. Bring the beauty of your garden to you; plant hyacinths near walkways and doors. Their magnificent perfume will swamp the spring air and make your garden really come alive.

4. Add your garden to non-garden items, such a lampposts and mail boxes. Surround these items with flowers planted to take advantage of the earliest to the latest flowerings. You could have white snowdrops, purple and gold crocus, blue hyacinths, and various colored tulips. You could also surround the posts with rocks to provide added interest.

5. Simple, but effective weed control can be achieved on your lawn by mowing often during spring. This will prevent dandelions spreading by eliminating the yellow blossoms and preventing seed formation. Mow high during late spring and early summer. This will allow grass blades to shade the ground, and will help prevent crabgrass from sprouting.

Your lawn and garden should be a source of pride and beauty. You don’t need to spend lots of money on expensive fertilizers and herbicides, or fancy lawn furniture and ornaments. A little commonsense and thought can go a long way to making your lawn and garden a much better place.

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Laying a New Lawn from Grass Seed.

If you are thinking of starting a lawn from grass seed, there is some information you need to know before making your decision. The advantages of planting grass seed over installing sod are that it is less costly and there is more variety of grasses to choose from. Whilst there is a lot of labor involved, the beautiful results are well worth your time.

This article will contain many tips to help make the seeding process easier. When starting a grass lawn from seed, be aware that it will take a lot of care. If you are a keen gardener, this probably won’t be a problem for you. If you are replacing a very large expanse of lawn, you may want to hire someone to help you remove old sod, or hire a turf cutter. Seeding results are better if you remove old lawn grass before you begin. This can be done by removing 1 foot sections with a spade. If you are laying grass from scratch you will want to till the area in order to remove old root clumps or debris and rake it till you get the level you desire.

An important decision to be made is what type of lawn grass seed you should purchase. Take your climate into consideration, consider whether the area is shady or wet and also determine what type of soil and drainage you have. Consider also how much traffic the grass will have. This will help you make the perfect grass choice for your lawn. 

If your soil has poor drainage, you will need to add some sand to the mixture before planting the lawn grass seed. This will stop the ground becoming waterlogged. You will also want to check the pH level of your soil. Ideally, most lawns thrive with a pH level of 6.5-7.0, so if yours isn’t in this range you may need to add some amendments to attain this level. If you have decided to start your lawn from seed, one thing you should think about is how much maintenance is required once the grass is established. Some grass varieties need little or no mowing, and others require lawn mowing more often. Some also require more moisture, so watering may be necessary.

Once you have chosen your grass seed it’s time to get the soil ready. The first step you should taking after preparing the site is to add a layer of organic material to your topsoil. Some people choose not to use topsoil. In this case, use peat moss, compost and manure, and make sure this is at one inch thick at a minimum. Leave the mixture loose so that the roots of the grass seed can spread. As you can see, starting a lawn from grass seed does require quite a bit of work – but it is well worth the effort. You may also add fertilizer about a week before seeding. Just follow the manufacturer’s instructions for this step. After all the preparation is complete, you are ready to seed! Again, follow manufacturer’s instructions. They will tell you how much seed to use on a certain size area. You can seed by hand or use a spreader – or both, this is completely up to you. If you have a large area it is useful to divide it into smaller sections and sow a portion of the grass seed into each section. To ensure you have an even spread sow the lawn seed in two directions. After seeding, you will need to rake the grass seed into the soil. If birds are likely to be attracted to the area you can criss cross string about 4 inches above the soil surface. Now, wait for your grass to grow! It should only take about 7-14 days before the seedlings appear.

Keep the soil moist during this time and water preferably in the evening. Use a fine mist so as not to dislodge the grass seeds. Until your lawn becomes established, try to keep pets and visitors off of the grass. Starting a lawn from seed does require effort and attention on your part. To keep you motivated during the process, just picture the lush green lawn you will have in a short time! Your neighbors will be envious.

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Grow Healthy Lawn Grass – You Can Do That!

Do you want a perfect green grass lawn? Are you frustrated that your neighbors always seems to have a greener, fuller lawn than yours? If so read on, this article will help you achieve a beautiful, healthy grass lawn in no time. Below are tips on how to go about realizing your dream.

Fertilizing

You have to fertilize. Fertilizing your lawn will do several things 1) it will make the grass greener, 2) will make the grass grow and 3) will cause new lawn seed to germinate. People are often confused about how much to fertilize, a good rule is to apply lawn fertilizer four times a year. Every 60 days, first during late spring 30 days before the growing season then late summer, late fall and then during the winter months. Lastly, don’t apply to much lawn fertilizer to your grass, as this will cause excess grass growth and lead to fungus growth which will weaken your grass lawn.

Weed Control

You have to control the weeds in your lawn. Controlling weeds in a new or existing lawn grass is essential to the health and overall aspect of the lawn. A beautiful level lawn gets most of it’s good looks from the fact that it is smooth where weeds are not prominent and standing above the turf. You have probably mowed your lawn just to have dandelions popping up over the grass a day later making it look like you need to mowthe lawn again. A weedless lawn holds it’s good looks for several days if the grass is at a uniform growing height.

Proper Mowing

Remember to mow properly. Mowing is the most confusing part of lawn care, and the most often incorrectly done part of lawn care. Far too many people will set their mowers too low and “scalp” the lawn. This leads to thin and dying out grass lawn, shallow root systems, and in the long run, NO GRASS.

Thatching

You have to thatch. Thatching by using a rake will remove dead grass that can smother and prevent new grass growth. It may seem at first you are doing more harm than not but if you don’t break the thatch barrier new grass will not grow.

Lawn Watering

Your grass lawn needs watering. Watering should be done everyday during the hot months and rule of thumb is that it is better to water deeply one in a while then to water shallow daily. Also remember that you must water your lawn right after you lay down lawn fertilizer.

Conclusion:

Follow these simple actions and you will have a healthy green lawn the whole neighborhood will envy. Good luck.

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