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Lawn Care For Beginners – Basic Maintenance Tips
Who doesn't love a beautiful lush green lawn? Well, although it seems simple to maintain a lawn, the entire maintenance process is something that can change the look of your yard.
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Some tips and suggestions can be beneficial to the people who have little to no experience in taking care of their lawn. In this article, I am going to share all the essential maintenance tips for beginners as well as the experienced ones to get that perfect lawn setting for the outdoor sitting space.
1. Know Your Soil
The first and foremost thing for having a healthy and beautiful lawn is to know the soil. You can read about the different types of soil and try to figure out the kind of soil. Another way of knowing the soil type is to take a sample from the land and proceed with lab testings.
This testing provides information regarding the soil such as its fertility, soil pH, and much more. All these details are essential to solve any issues regarding soil and also aids in deciding the type of grass suitable for your lawn.
Getting a detailed report for your soil is beneficial to decide and plan out the entire lawn care routine.
2. Seeding At the Right Time
Once you know the suitable options of grass for your lawn, start seeding at the right time for getting the optimum growth. Decide the time for seeding after knowing all the information about the best time to sow.
Post-aeration of the lawn is the perfect time to start the seeding process. Overseeding can help in filling up the dry patches on the lawn and also helps in rejuvenating the worn-out grass. It also helps in preventing the occurrence of weeds and moss. For ensuring the proper seeding process, make sure that the lawn is aerated, mowed, and watered well.
3. Mow the Grass Properly
One of the essential factors that can make a difference in the look of your lawn is mowing. The process of cutting the grass to the preferred height is called mowing. It makes your grass look healthy and lush.
While mowing the grass, make sure you always use sharp blades for cutting the grass to the appropriate height. Never cut the grass more than 1/3rd of its height. Dull blades do not cut the grass it rather tears it, which makes the grass look unhealthy.
Another tip to mow the grass properly is to start mowing the lawn when it's dry. Wet grass will weigh down the blades where the dry grass will be upright and ready to be cut. Make a mowing routine depending on the growth of the grass in your lawn. Mowing once every 5-7 days is suitable for maintaining a healthy lawn.
4. Aeration is Also Necessary
If your lawn suffers from waterlogging or draught, then aeration is the best solution to these problems. Aeration is the process in which you make holes in the soil for improving the air and water uptake by the grassroots. It also helps in boosting the nutrient uptake by the grass.
The best time to aerate the soil is when it's moist. Aeration will help in improving the growth of your lawn. However, aeration should not be done more than once or twice a year. You can also select a patch of the soil that seems dry and aerate it instead of aerating the entire lawn.
5. Give Water in Adequate Amount
Another essential factor to consider while taking care of the lawn is to make sure that you give water to your yard at regular intervals. Watering your lawn should be done in the right way to ensure that grass remains hydrated throughout the day.
Established lawn grass requires less water as compared to the new lawn. It is advised to water your lawn twice or thrice deeply for getting that lush green grass. However, it should be noted that shallow watering is not suitable for grass turf as it doesn't get absorbed by the grassroots.
Water the grass deeply so that it reaches to its roots and provides moisture to it. Another excellent tip for watering is to water the lawn in mornings. This ensures that the moisture is retained for the extended period as the water reaches the roots before getting absorbed by the sunlight.
6. Choose the Right Fertilizer For Optimum Growth
Only sunlight and water cannot help in achieving that beautiful green lawn. Every plant needs a suitable fertilizer for proper growth. There are many fertilizers available in the market today that suffice all the requirements.
A fertilizer mainly comprises of Nitrogen, Potassium, and Phosphorous. All these nutrients are essential for grass growth. You can choose the fertilizer depending on the type of grass.
For better results, you can check the soil's pH and then choose the fertilizer. The overdose of fertilizers is not beneficial for plants. Do not fertilize the lawn more than two times a year.
Another excellent alternative to provide all the required nutrients for growth is to use compost. You can also use manure and other natural options for chemical-based fertilizers.
7. Work On the Drainage Of the Lawn
This tip is one suggestion that everybody misses out while maintaining their lawn. It is vital to have a proper drainage system in your lawn. There can be instances of waterlogging in your yard for days or even weeks if the drainage system is not correctly set.
The waterlogging is not healthy for your lawn and should be avoided to prevent the damage it can cause to your yard.
You can also opt for methods such as drip irrigation to make sure that water is supplied in adequate quantities. Apart from waterlogging the drought conditions are also not suitable for the lawn. So if you such difficulties often seek help from a professional to make changes to the water drainage system.
8. Get Rid of Weeds and Moss
Many unwanted plants grow in lawn such as weeds and moss. Weeds usually grow as seed heads or flowers in the yard. Whereas the moss is the non-flowering plant that you typically notice in your lawn.
Both these plants take up the water and other nutrients that are given to the grass. It is essential to get rid of both these unwanted plants so that sufficient nutrients and water is available to the grass. You can either remove these plants by hands or tools. You can also use less toxic herbicide to get rid of these plants.
If you notice the frequent instances of weed and moss growth in your lawn, then you should consider making a change to your watering schedule as well as the mowing routine. Sometimes when the mowing is not done correctly and the grass if not the appropriate height, it can result in such unwanted growth of weeds and moss.
9. Protect Your Lawn From Insects And Pest
There are high chances of beetles, lawn grubs, and other pests eating up your lawn. You can opt for good quality pesticides and insecticides to get rid of pests. It is advised to use such insecticides in a minimal amount as using it in more quantities can harm the grass.
It can also kill beneficial soil microbes. If you see the frequent occurrence of such pests and insects, you can seek help from professional to find the solution to this problem.
Also, if you decide to spray pesticides or insecticides, make sure you wear protective equipment as mentioned in the instructions. As these chemicals are harmful to humans, the entire process should be done with utmost care and attention.
10. Remove Thatch Buildup
Thatch is a brown layer of organic matter between the lawn and soil. It is generally made up of dead grass, roots, and leaves. This layer can block the penetration of moisture and nutrients to the roots of the lawn. It is easy to identify these layers on the lawn as thatch buildup is a spongy layer observed on the soil.
There are a lot of tools for removing this buildup such as lawn scarifier. It is suggested to remove thatch in early fall or early spring only. To avoid this buildup, it is vital to check the drainage system and make the necessary improvements to it.
11. Avoid Diseases Of the Lawn
If you notice the discolored grass in a patch of your lawn or any other symptoms of the lawn diseases, then try to figure out the condition by reading online about it. You can also ask for help from a local expert.
In such cases, it is advisable to avoid excessive watering. Water in excess amount can lead to fungus and other diseases. Another way for protecting your lawn is to minimize the vehicle and foot traffic in the grass, especially in colder seasons and frost.
Concluding Remarks
So these are all the tips and suggestions that can help you in keeping your lawn healthy and happy. It is vital to feed and water to the yard. There are many online videos available on the internet today that can help you to understand the process in depth.
If at any point you don't understand the dos and don'ts for lawn it is advised to contact an expert. I hope this article helps you to understand the essential tips for the maintenance of the lawn.
About the Author Laura Bennett
Hello, I’m Laura Bennett. I love nature especially when it comes to flowers and different kinds of plants. I started a very small garden behind my house and I named it Humid Garden. So, I created this blog to provide aspiring and inspiring thoughts about gardening for gardeners and anyone who has the intention of keeping a garden.
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