4 Tips to Maintain a Healthy Lawn This Summer
Ahhhh Summertime!
As a lover of everything warm this is my time of year. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, the smell of grilled hamburgers is in the air and you can always just take some time out to lay out on the grass. But what can you do to maintain that the grass you lay on is healthy, green, and full? Here are 8 tips to help maintain a healthy lawn:
Watch how you mow:
Mowing your lawn is one of the rights of passage in summer and, let’s be honest now, it isn’t the most glamorous job in the world. It’s sweaty and you mess your shoes up and it’s overall not so much fun. Because of this you’ll be tempted to buzz your lawn as short as you can and wait another week before you have to mow again…not so fast my friend. Lawn experts suggest that you keep your lawn almost as high as your mower will allow (give or take a quarter inch). This not only provides the room for nice and healthy grass to grow, but it also is a good prevention of weeds and those horrible (yet wonderful) dandelions. If it helps at all the longer your grass is means it’s healthier which means that you have a nice comfortable spot to take that nap.
Don’t just water…water smart:
Everyone knows that your lawn needs water. So when mother nature isn’t doing her job by giving you enough rain you’re gonna need to bite the bullet and water yourself. But rarely do people know exactly how to water, but the second graph of this article (from a chicken in a hat no less) tells you to water deep not often. This makes a lot of sens too because a quick sprinkling will only make the grass healthy for all of two seconds, and then it’s right back to where they were before. But if you give them a lot of water then they will be able to drink all they can without having to worry about burning through the water really fast.
Keeping weeds at bay:
The first two tips can really help with keeping your weeds at bay. Now there isn’t anything wrong with using anti-weed sprays and such (as long as you use it correctly) but the best way to keep weeds at bay is to nip them in the bud….er…roots. Picking the weeds that are already a problem…by hand…will ensure that the roots are taken out and you’re not just picking out the surface stuff and give the weed some time to grow back. Also pulling out the roots will open up a hole in the yard which will help aerate your lawn.
And speaking of aerating…
Aerate your lawn:
Aerating your lawn pops some holes in the dirt, which lets in oxygen to the soil underneath the topsoil. Think about all your lawn goes through during the course of the summer. The kids are playing in it, the dogs are running around out there, and your stamping the ground every time you mow your lawn. All of this motion flattens the ground and closes up the portals of oxygen to the dirt that’s underneath this initial topsoil. Properly aerating your lawn will create healthier soil for your grass. Once you have healthy soil for your grass you will have healthy grass which can prevent future weeds from growing (and you get to wear cool spikey shoes). However make sure that you only aerate at the beginning and the end of your summer, otherwise you’ll end up tearing up your lawn and doing more harm than good.
Following these simple guidelines will help you create a happy healthy lawn for the summer. Now I’m not saying that you will win the lawn competition in your neighborhood, I’m just saying that once you do remember where you got your information from =)
Everybody build (and landscape) safe out there!
